Afghans Deny Plane Turned Away from China Had Bomb Threat source : Afghan Voice Agency(AVA) |
 عکس آرشیو |
An Afghan plane bound for the restive western Chinese region of Xinjiang was sent back to Afghanistan Sunday, with Chinese state media blaming a bomb threat but the airline denying this.
|
|
Kam Air deputy chief Feda Mohammad Fedawi told The Associated Press that the plane, carrying 160 passengers, left Kabul and was crossing Kyrgyzstan on its way to the Xinjiang capital, Urumqi, when it was told to turn back Sunday.
The Xinhua News Agency said there had been a bomb threat and that Urumqi airport authorities were told not to let the plane land.
However, Mr. Fedawi said there had been no bomb threat and that the plane had been inspected by Afghan officers and a foreign security company before departure in what he called an unusually thorough security check.
Kyrgyz authorities had told the crew that Chinese authorities would not allow them into their airspace, Mr. Fedawi said. The plane could not return to the Afghan capital because of windy weather and was diverted to the southern city of Kandahar, he said.
Mr. Fedawi said the plane\'s passengers and crew were fine and that it was expected to return to Kabul on Monday morning.
A press officer for NATO forces in Afghanistan, which control the Kandahar airport, said the alliance had received no report of a plane forced to land there.
There was no immediate way to explain the differing accounts.
Security in Urumqi has been tight since ethnic riots in the city last month that killed 197 people and injured more than 1,700 -- China\'s worst ethnic violence in decades.
Officials at the airport branch of the Urumqi public security bureau, the Xinjiang regional government\'s news center, and the information office of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China refused to comment on the reports. A staffer at the spokesman\'s office at the Foreign Ministry said the office had no additional information about the incident.
State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of ambulances, police cars and armored vehicles rolling up to the airport Sunday night, some flashing emergency lights, as armed troops wearing helmets jogged in single file into position. Travelers were shown calmly walking out of the airport with no sign of panic.
Security forces inspected vehicles at checkpoints along the main expressway leading to the airport from Urumqi\'s city center.
Troops withdrew from the airport early Monday and the situation had returned to normal, CCTV said. Footage showed travelers lining up to check in for flights, which a reporter said had not been disrupted.
Authorities are continuing to hunt for people named as having committed serious crimes in Urumqi\'s rioting, which erupted on July 5 after police stopped a protest by ethnic Uighur residents. The Uighurs, a Muslim people with a distinct language and culture, went on a rampage, smashing windows, burning cars and beating Han Chinese -- the nation\'s dominant ethnic group. Two days later, the Han took to the streets and attacked Uighurs.
Threats to civil aviation in China are believed to be rare, although the government reported that in March 2008, a woman confessed to attempting to hijack and crash a Chinese passenger plane from Xinjiang. Officials said that was part of a terror campaign by a radical Islamic independence group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. The reports said the woman was a Uighur.
Human rights groups say China exaggerates the terrorist threat in the region in order to increase its control over the Uighur population.
The Xinhua News Agency said there had been a bomb threat and that Urumqi airport authorities were told not to let the plane land.
However, Mr. Fedawi said there had been no bomb threat and that the plane had been inspected by Afghan officers and a foreign security company before departure in what he called an unusually thorough security check.
Kyrgyz authorities had told the crew that Chinese authorities would not allow them into their airspace, Mr. Fedawi said. The plane could not return to the Afghan capital because of windy weather and was diverted to the southern city of Kandahar, he said.
Mr. Fedawi said the plane\'s passengers and crew were fine and that it was expected to return to Kabul on Monday morning.
A press officer for NATO forces in Afghanistan, which control the Kandahar airport, said the alliance had received no report of a plane forced to land there.
There was no immediate way to explain the differing accounts.
Security in Urumqi has been tight since ethnic riots in the city last month that killed 197 people and injured more than 1,700 -- China\'s worst ethnic violence in decades.
Officials at the airport branch of the Urumqi public security bureau, the Xinjiang regional government\'s news center, and the information office of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China refused to comment on the reports. A staffer at the spokesman\'s office at the Foreign Ministry said the office had no additional information about the incident.
State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of ambulances, police cars and armored vehicles rolling up to the airport Sunday night, some flashing emergency lights, as armed troops wearing helmets jogged in single file into position. Travelers were shown calmly walking out of the airport with no sign of panic.
Security forces inspected vehicles at checkpoints along the main expressway leading to the airport from Urumqi\'s city center.
Troops withdrew from the airport early Monday and the situation had returned to normal, CCTV said. Footage showed travelers lining up to check in for flights, which a reporter said had not been disrupted.
Authorities are continuing to hunt for people named as having committed serious crimes in Urumqi\'s rioting, which erupted on July 5 after police stopped a protest by ethnic Uighur residents. The Uighurs, a Muslim people with a distinct language and culture, went on a rampage, smashing windows, burning cars and beating Han Chinese -- the nation\'s dominant ethnic group. Two days later, the Han took to the streets and attacked Uighurs.
Threats to civil aviation in China are believed to be rare, although the government reported that in March 2008, a woman confessed to attempting to hijack and crash a Chinese passenger plane from Xinjiang. Officials said that was part of a terror campaign by a radical Islamic independence group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. The reports said the woman was a Uighur.
Human rights groups say China exaggerates the terrorist threat in the region in order to increase its control over the Uighur population.
Story code : 11030
 Send to friends |
 Story file |
 Print version |