Berlin, Nov 05: Germany's cabinet today approved measures to allow the military to shoot down hijacked airliners over German airspace that are deemed to pose a threat. The bill leaves the decision to act with the federal government, not the military, under an agreement reached after weeks of talks between Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's governing social democrats and their junior partner, the greens.
Under the proposal, which requires parliamentary approval, the Defence Minister or a cabinet-appointed deputy can decide to have the plane shot down “as a last resort.''
The aircraft would have to pose an immediate danger in German airspace, directly threaten people's lives and have failed to respond to orders to land and warning shots.
Already well aware of the threat posed by hijacked aircraft after the September 11 attacks on the United States, Defence Minister Peter Struck proposed the measure in January after a mentally disturbed man stole a small plane and circled the skyscrapers of downtown Frankfurt, threatening to crash into them.
Bureau Report