Jihadis have brought a bad name for Pakistan
Manchester-bound plane grounded in Cyprus over terror fears Mon Sep 12, 6:08 AM ET
LARNACA, Cyprus (AFP) - A flight to Britain was grounded in the Mediterranean island of Cyprus overnight after frightened passengers refused to take off with two Pakistanis they suspected were “Muslim terrorists”, police said.
The plane had been due to take off for Manchester at 11:40 pm (2040 GMT) on Sunday but was still on the tarmac at the island’s main international airport of Larnaca on Monday morning while checks continued, police said Monday.
“The plane was ready to depart on Sunday when the people on board pointed at two men and said they looked like Muslim terrorists,” police spokesman Demetris Demetriou told AFP.
“After the captain also refused to fly the plane with them on board, the two men were taken off the plane and questioned at Larnaca police station.”
The spokesman said that luggage also had to be checked before the aircraft could be cleared for take-off.
Public radio reported that police questioning of the two Pakistanis had turned up nothing suspicious.
The 230 passengers were being accommodated at a local hotel, it added.
The scare came two months after 52 people were killed in a wave of suicide bombings on London’s public transport system that were followed by abortive copycat attacks a week later.