Egyptian Captain Honored by Mubarak : Pilot Says Interceptors Vowed to Shoot

The pilot of an Egyptian passenger plane diverted to Italy with four hijackers aboard said today that U.S. Navy pilots threatened to shoot down his aircraft if he did not comply with their orders.

Capt. Ahmed Moneeb spoke to reporters after President Hosni Mubarak awarded him and four other crew members decorations for valor in a ceremony at a presidential palace.

“It was piracy,” Moneeb said of last Thursday’s action by four U.S. Navy F-14s and three other support aircraft over the Mediterranean.

He said his Boeing 737 was “an airliner with civilian passengers flying in an airway with the necessary permission, and this (interception) was a violation of aviation law.”

In addition to the four hijackers, there were two officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization aboard, Abul Abbas, member of the Executive Committee, and an aide known by the code name Abul-Ezz.

Egyptian officials said the rest were Egyptian security agents.

Asked whether the interceptors threatened to shoot down his plane if he refused the diversion order, Moneeb replied: “Yes. They also jammed my contact with Cairo.”

Asked how he felt when intercepted, he said: “It was a feeling of responsibility for my 30 passengers. That was the first thing I had to think about.”

Moneeb said he did not know that the interceptors were American until 15 minutes before he landed in Sicily when he heard them getting clearance from ground control.

“I put my lights on (to identify the planes), but they ordered me to put them off,” he said. “I never thought they were American planes--Italian maybe, but never American.”

He said he protested to the U.S. commanding officer at Sigonella base.

“I asked him--what sort of law is this? He answered, ‘This is my law,’ ” Moneeb said.