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Officers question Turkish hijacker

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BRINDISI, Italy (CNN) -- Italian officials are questioning a Turkish man who hijacked a Turkish jetliner with 113 people aboard Tuesday and forced it to fly to Italy, where the passengers and crew were released unharmed.

The man, identified by Turkish authorities as Hasan Ekinci, has reportedly requested political asylum.

Turkish authorities said Ekinci wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI in August asking for help in avoiding service in the Turkish army.

"I am a Christian and don't want to serve a Muslim army," he wrote, adding that he had been attending church since 1998.

Earlier reports that there were two hijackers and they were protesting Benedict's planned visit to Turkey next month were apparently incorrect.

The Vatican said the pope's visit would go on as scheduled.

According to passengers, the hijacker sneaked into the cockpit when the rest of the crew was busy and told the pilot he had an accomplice on board, Italian police said. But passengers have reported seeing only one.

The hijacking incident began Tuesday afternoon, when the Turkish airliner departed the Albanian capital, Tirana, for Istanbul. The hijacker entered the plane's cockpit over Greek airspace, officials said.

The plane sent out a distress signal, and Greek warplanes escorted it out of Greek airspace. Greek officials alerted their Italian counterparts, the airline spokesman said.

The plane carried 107 passengers and a crew of six. It landed at a military airfield in Brindisi, on the heel of Italy's boot. Italian aviation officials said the passengers would be flown to Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight.

An Albanian passenger interviewed by NTV said passengers had no idea there was anything wrong on the plane, and that it was just like a normal flight.

"They (the crew) told us there was a engine problem and that the Istanbul airport was closed. Then the pilot changed directions, and I saw he was going west because I could see the sun," passenger Albert Okalari of Tirana, Albania, told reporters.

He said they only became aware of the hijacking after arriving in Brindisi and passengers switched their cell phones, for the first time hearing the news reports.

CNN's Talia Kayali and Anthee Carassava contributed to this report.

Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

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