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CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — A 33-year-old Somali refugee appeared in a New Zealand court Saturday on charges of attempting to hijack a small passenger plane and stabbing its pilots, reports said.
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Asha Ali Abdille was remanded in custody for a psychiatric examination after her court appearance here on charges of injuring with intent and trying to take over the plane during a flight on New Zealand's South Island on Friday.
Abdille, the first person to face a hijacking charge in New Zealand, allegedly stabbed two pilots with a knife during the mid-air attack on a short Air National flight from the town of Blenheim to Christchurch.
She allegedly demanded the pilots fly to Australia and also claimed she had bombs on board, though military bomb disposal experts did not find explosive devices on the plane, police have said.
The wounded pilots managed to safely land the 19-seater in Christchurch despite Abdille trying to grab the controls. She was arrested at the airport.
Abdille has been described as having a history of battles with authorities dating back to her arrival in New Zealand from a refugee camp as a 19-year-old in 1994.
Now Foreign Minister Winston Peters used parliamentary privilege that same year, when Adbille tried to bring 14 family members into the country, to reveal that she had several criminal convictions.
Peters told parliament that she had also threatened to pour petrol on a Red Cross staff member and had thrown a bucket of faeces over a policeman since arriving in New Zealand.
Abdille told media at the time that her actions were a result of trauma that she had suffered in her past, including being raped and beaten during the three years she spent in a Kenyan refugee camp.
The mid-air drama has led to calls for tighter air security measures in New Zealand where screening of carry-on luggage is carried out only on domestic flights with more than 90 passengers.
Transport Safety Minister Harry Duynhoven said that was in line with overseas practice and the government would wait until receiving reports into the alleged hijacking before wider security measures would be considered.
However, opposition MP Ron Mark said the attack demonstrated how a serious incident could arise from a lack of screening procedures.
"It's a hell of a lot more inconvenient to have an aircraft go through the roof of your house, or have the whole airport shut down just because of the lack of screening at an airport in Blenheim," he told The New Zealand Herald.
Blenheim Airport operations manager Kelly Byrne said it was not a security designated airfield.
One of the pilots received severe cuts to his hand and underwent surgery while his co-pilot was treated at hospital for a foot injury and discharged.
The other six passengers on board -- four New Zealanders, an Australian and an Indian national -- were evacuated safely. One suffered a minor hand injury in the incident.
SOURCE | Afp
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