http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=281062 <http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=281062&area=/breaking_news/b reaking_news__national/> &area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/
SA plane diverted after security alert Hila Bouzaglou | Johannesburg, South Africa 17 August 2006 01:39 <http://a.coza.com/click.ng/site=MGnBrN&affiliate=dmg&target=MGnBrN.Nat&posi tion=10&adsize=220x240&number=4DDS1155820295385-0.10401667659493774> A South African Express Airways plane en route to Richards Bay from Johannesburg was diverted to Durban on Thursday morning due to a security alert, the carrier said. Sniffer dogs and the South African Police Service (SAPS) searched the plane and its passengers' luggage after the 50-seater aircraft was forced to land at Durban International airport early on Thursday morning. SA Express Airways public relations officer Dileseng Koetle told the Mail & Guardian Online that this was standard police procedure. Mary Gauche, the carrier's manager, said the Richards Bay airport had received "a funny call" in the early hours of Thursday morning. Koetle confirmed this and said that someone external called the airport, "saying stuff that concerned security". The acting CEO of SA Express Airways, Inati Ntshanga, said in a statement: "South African Express Airways rigorously adheres to international standards of safety to ensure air travel that is both safe and comfortable for our passengers. Our passengers can rest assured that all the necessary safety measures have been implemented." Koetle said in a statement that the Richards Bay airport is fully operational after the SAPS and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) investigated of the alert. The NIA declined to comment on the investigations. Alleged hijacker in court Meanwhile, plane hijack accused Tinashe Rioga appeared briefly in Cape Town's Bellville Regional Court on Thursday, the South African Press Association reported. A Zimbabwean student at the University of Cape Town, he was charged under the Aviation Act after allegedly brandishing a hypodermic syringe on a South African Airways flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg in June this year. He was overpowered by passengers and crew. On Thursday, magistrate Hannes Lombard granted what he said would be a final postponement of the matter to August 24, for Rioga's attorney, Josua Greeff, to find out whether he would still be retained as Rioga's legal representative. Greeff said he also needed the postponement for practical purposes, adding that Rioga's elder brother, who resides in Zimbabwe, was granted a visa to visit South Africa only on Wednesday. Greeff gave the court an undertaking to inform the Legal Aid Board timeously should he not get financial security to represent Rioga. Rioga, who has been denied bail, remains in custody at Goodwood prison. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
