International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, Nov. 18, 2002

Reports are still sketchy whether an Israeli Arab man was seriously trying to hijack an El Al flight when undercover security guards over-powered and handcuffed him 15 minutes before the plane landed in Istanbul on Sunday night.

None of the 170 passengers on El-Al flight 581 were injured, and it is now believed that the suspect - currently in custody in Turkey - did not pose a significant security threat to the plane.

Turkey's Anatolia news agency identified the man as 23-year-old Tawfiq Fukra, an Arab-Israeli from northern Israel and quoted remarks by him to investigators that he had "carried out the action to protest Israel." But reports citing Israeli officials now suggest the suspected "hijack" may have been nothing more than an angry confrontation with an air stewardess.

Earlier reports said he had tried to commandeer the plane using a pocket-knife, but now Israeli authorities say he was not brandishing the knife when he confronted the El Al crew member.

Israeli security sources, believed to be interviewing Fukra's relatives in Galilee, are playing down the incident. Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport has denied any breach in its tough security measures, while Turkish news reports that the suspect chose the El Al flight to Istanbul because it was "relatively cheap" also point away from any link to terrorism.