The hijacker of a Turkish plane surrendered early this morning after releasing all the passengers and was under arrest, a Greek government spokesman announced.
The end of the nightlong drama was briefly delayed when the hijacker initially refused to leave the plane after the passengers had disembarked. He had stayed on board with twopilots.
"They've got him. He's under arrest. The pilots are out. It's over," the spokesman said.
The hijacker, who claimed he had explosives strapped to his body, seized Flight TK 160 after taking off from Istanbul on a domestic flight to Ankara last night. It had 203 people on board, including the crew.
The plane landed in Athens for refuelling. German air traffic control said the hijacker had earlier wanted to fly to Tegel airport in Berlin.