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Israel calls El Al incident a terrorist act
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- An attempt by an Israeli Arab to break into the cockpit of an El Al jet Sunday appears to have been a terrorist attack, an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Monday. Ra'anan Gissin said the initial investigation into the incident showed there was a "high probability" that Tawfiq Fuqara, 23, was intent on committing a terrorist act. There was no evidence he was affiliated with any Islamic terrorist group, Gissin said, but he was apparently inspired by them. During the flight, Fuqara, wielding a small penknife, attempted to break into the cockpit of the Boeing 757-200, El Al said in a statement. El Al said he was an Arab carrying an Israeli passport. Fuqara was overpowered by security guards on board the aircraft, which was en route from Tel Aviv to Istanbul, Turkey. He was taken into custody when the plane landed safely in Istanbul at 10:15 p.m. (3:15 p.m. ET). None of the 170 people on board were injured. Turkish authorities turned over the man to the Shin Bet, Israel's general security service. Israel Radio reported Monday that Fuqara was apparently upset with a flight attendant who he felt was ignoring his requests for water. But a passenger seated next to him, Leslie Schull, said Fuqara had been acting "a little bit crazy" throughout the flight, well before the incident with the water. "From the minute he got onto the plane, he was very fidgety, moving around, getting up to go to the toilet, getting up to check his bag in the overhead compartment," Schull told CNN. Fuqara had been made to wait a long time to get water, but Schull said he did not believe that incident set him off. "I could see that he ... wasn't acting normally," Schull said. It was not clear how the man may have managed to bring a penknife onboard. El Al, Israel's national airline, is considered the most secure airline in the world. The carrier, which serves about 3 million passengers annually, receives threats daily, El Al's president noted last year. "Unfortunately, the system we put in place was not because we wanted to, but because we had to because of our situation, and the threats we get," said David Hermesh, who resigned as president in February. CNN producer Fatih Turkmenoglu in Istanbul and correspondents Jerrold Kessel and Matthew Chance in Jerusalem contributed to this report. Reuters contributed to this report.
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