http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/485529.html
Cyprus files protest against Israel over Lufthansa intercept
By
Zohar Blumenkrantz, Haaretz Correspondent, and Agencies
NICOSIA, Cyprus - Cyprus protested formally to Israel on Wednesday over the diversion of a German airliner to the Mediterranean island, and the airspace violation by two Israeli jets who escorted the airliner.
The plane, a Lufthansa Boeing 747, was flying past southern Cyprus Tuesday on its way to Israel when its pilot was told there was a bomb on board. The pilot wanted to continue as the airline believed the warning was a hoax. But Israel refused to allow him to land and two Israeli fighter jets intercepted the plane and forced it to land at Larnaca airport, Cyprus.
"This is a grave violation of international flight regulations," Cypriot Communications Minister Charis Thrasou said in a statement. "The government will be protesting to the International Civil Aviation Organization and other relevant international bodies."
The government also said that Israeli Ambassador Ivi Cohen-Litant had been summoned to the Foreign Ministry to receive the protest.
A thorough search of the plane at Larnaca revealed no bomb and the plane flew on to Israel after an eight-hour delay. It had 331 passengers and 16 crew.
The Israeli fighter jets mistakenly buzzed a Swiss aircraft close to Cyprus on Tuesday before intercepting the Lufthansa airliner, a senior Cypriot official said on Wednesday.
Reuters reported that Cyprus is furious that Israeli fighters scrambled to intercept the aircraft, a potential security risk, without clearance within Cyprus-administered airspace and "forced" it to land at a Cypriot airport.
However, Transportation Ministry security officer Dan Shin'ar said the Cypriot authorities cooperated fully and that there was no argument with Lufthansa about landing the plane in Larnaca.
The Lufthansa jet, which was flying from Frankfort to Tel Aviv, was intercepted south-west of Cyprus by two F-16s to keep it from entering Israeli air space.
Cyprus Communications Minister Haris Thrassou said that before the Lufthansa jet was approached, a Swiss plane had to switch altitude because it was approached by two Israeli F-16s.
"My information is that before the fighters approached the Lufthansa plane they approached the Swiss plane which was forced to switch altitude," he said. "It appears they then realized their mistake and moved on to the Lufthansa plane," he said.
Shin'ar dismissed the criticism of aviation sources that Israel had overreacted and that the same checks could have been conducted at Ben-Gurion Airport.
"I gave instructions not to let it into Israel and to land it in Larnaca for security checks," Shin'ar said.
"I don't think it was overreacting or hysteria. We know terror organizations are motivated to harm airplanes to Israel. Recently two Russian planes exploded and a bomb was put in a Turkish plane about a month ago," he said.
A passenger on the Lufthansa flight said that despite reports of a thorough search of both the plane and the passengers during the stopover in Larnaca, nobody examined the passengers physically or searched their hand luggage.
The Lufthansa plane landed in Israel early Wednesday morning after a seven-hour layover. Cypriot security officials had found no explosives on Tuesday in the cargo hold or passenger cabin of the Boeing 747.
Lufthansa flight No. 686 took off as usual at 10:30 A.M. from Frankfurt Tuesday and was due to land at 1:55 P.M. at Ben-Gurion Airport. It was carrying 331 passengers and 18 crew members. An hour after it took off an anonymous telephone caller told the airline's office in Frankfurt that there was a bomb on board. The German authorities notified Israel and the Transport Ministry decided to land the plane in Larnaca.
"I was afraid," said Lorraine, a 30-year-old Lufthansa passenger, in a telephone conversation from Larnaca on Tuesday. "We were told on the loudspeaker that we would land in Israel in half an hour, when suddenly they said they're not letting the flight enter, and that there are negotiations. They didn't tell us what was going on, why we weren't allowed to land. Then they announced that two Israeli air force war planes would escort us out of Israel's air space. Suddenly we saw two fighter jets. They flew with us a while and left," she said.
"After landing in Larnaca, they loaded us onto buses and took us to the terminal. They still told us nothing of what was going on. After about half an hour, we got food and drink and only two hours later they told on the loudspeaker, in English, that there was a bomb threat. But we all knew all that already, because we called home from the terminal, and they told us what was happening. Throughout all the time in Larnaca nobody checked us physically nor searched our handbags."
Lufthansa's Israel director Ofer Kish told Haaretz: "All the flight security measures in Frankfurt were checked after the threat was made and found in order. Our station notified the captain and Israel. About half an hour before the plane was due to land in Israel, Israeli security decided not to let it in. Lufthansa decided to land it in Larnaca, where it was searched by the Cypriot security forces."
Lufthansa spokesman in Israel Yitzhak Zaruni said the bomb threat caller had an Arabic accent. After consulting with German security officials, the airline and German authorities decided that the threat was not serious and the plane should continue on its way to Ben-Gurion Airport, he said. However, Israel decided to divert the plane to Cyprus and thoroughly check it there, on the orders of Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz.
