French police temporarily detained a 25-year-old Moroccan man yesterday after he allegedly threatened to hijack an Air France airliner from Montreal to Paris, but the incident turned out to be a hoax made up by one of the man's associates.
Earlier France's junior transport minister Mr Dominique Bussereau told Europe 1 radio that authorities had foiled an attempted hijacking, saying the man had "threatened to blow up the plane".
But Air France categorically denied any foul play during the flight, saying in a statement: "AF Flight 345 on November 21 from Montreal to Paris was normal. No attempted hijacking took place."
Mr Bussereau quickly backtracked on his initial statements, telling reporters it was difficult to assess what had happened before the Boeing jet arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris.
French police had suggested that the circumstances surrounding the incident were "very confused", but Canadian authorities finally cleared up the mystery when they said they had detained a man who had falsely accused Mr Mouhad Madjoul.
The 56-year-old man, a Montreal resident, was charged with wasting police time after admitting he had played a "bad joke" on Mr Madjoul, said Montreal police spokesman Christian Emond.
AFP