SMH Home Home   >   World News   >   Article    Former Italian
policeman hijacks second plane, surrenders  November 29 2002  A
man who hijacked a French jet in 1999 struck again, threatening
to blow up a flight over Switzerland with 57 passengers aboard,
police said.  He surrendered after the plane landed in southern
France yesterday and no one was hurt.  The man, identified by
French police as Stefano Savorani, a former Italian policeman
with a history of mental illness, claimed to be a member of the
al-Qaeda terrorist network and brandished a TV remote control he
said was connected to a bomb, authorities said.  The Alitalia
flight landed safely after Savorani, 29, demanded it be diverted
to Lyon, France's second-largest city, and that he be allowed to
speak to journalists.  Authorities said the hijacker released
the passengers in two waves from the MD-80 jet, which had been
flying from Bologna, Italy, to Charles de Gaulle airport in
Paris. Savorani surrendered to a French SWAT team and no
explosives were fo