Man tried hijacking flight to go to Libya

A man with a knife tried to hijack an Alitalia flight from Paris to Rome on Sunday night,demanding it be flown to Libya,but was quickly overpowered and arrested when the plane landed,officials and witnesses said.

Witnesses said the man put a small knife to the throat of a female flight attendant and held her for a few minutes. The man grabbed the stewardess from behind her back and pointed the knife,a passenger named Sofia told reporters. Stefanie,a French woman who lives in Italy,said the man laughed when the stewardess asked him to go the front of the plane with her.

Italian media said police had identified the man as a 48-year-old citizen of Kazakhstan who worked in Paris. Other attendants on flight AZ329 overpowered the man,who was clearly agitated.