Two Asians forced out from UK bound flight over terror fears

LONDON: Two British citizens of Asian appearance were forced off a Manchester-bound flight after fellow passengers did not allow the jet to take off from the Spanish town of Malaga until the duo, whom they feared to be terrorists, was disembarked.

Some of the 150 passengers onboard the Monarch Airline flight from Spain staged a mutiny demanding that air staff forcibly remove the two men after they overheard the Asians apparently speaking in Arabic and expressed alarm over their behaviour, The Mail on Sunday reported.

The trouble flared last Wednesday as two UK citizens waiting to board the pre-dawn flight were heard talking what passengers took to be Arabic and a female passenger said she had heard something that alarmed her, the paper said.

It quoted passengers saying the pair who were in their twenties were despite the heat wearing leather jackets and thick jumpers and were regularly checking their watches.

Initially, six passengers refused to board the flight, and as the word spread one family stood up and left followed quickly by others.

The flight took off three hours later after police found nothing in a security sweep conducted after escorting the two passengers off the jet.

The two Asians were later flown to Manchester later in the week and were not arrested by the British police, the newspaper said.