Chechen hijackers 'issue bomb threat'
The hijackers of a Russian plane which is holding 162 hostages at a Saudi airport are claiming to have a bomb on board.
The FSB, successor to the KGB secret service, has set up a team to help liberate the passengers from the charter flight if necessary.
The airliner was hijacked by two Chechens armed with knives after leaving Istanbul and dived 10,000ft after one of the men struggled with a pilot.
The plane, which is carrying 162 passengers, dropped to 14,000ft after one of the hijackers entered the cockpit and demanded the airliner change direction.
It has been reported that the plane has landed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
There were 103 Russians and 59 Turks on board the jetliner.
Turkish Transport Minister Enis Oksuz says the hijackers claim they are carrying explosives and added a passenger at the entrance to the cockpit has been injured during a fight with the hijackers.
The plane had been on a scheduled flight from Istanbul to Moscow. The hijacked aircraft entered Egyptian airspace at 1345 GMT. The pilot said the airliner was heading to Medina, Saudi Arabia.
The plane, a Russian built TU-154 from Vnukovo Airlines, took off at 11.30 GMT from Istanbul's Ataturk International airport. The two hijackers took over the plane 30 minutes later.
