Israel Shoots Down Plane From Lebanon - Army

Israel Shoots Down Plane From Lebanon - Army
KIRYAT SHMONA, Israel (Reuters) - Israel's air force shot down a light civilian plane from Lebanon on Thursday, the anniversary of Israel's pullout from the Arab state, after the pilot failed to heed warnings he was over Israel, the army said.

Israeli military sources said the pilot's body was found in the wreckage. Witnesses said parts of the plane fell into the Me***erranean and Israel Radio said the plane crashed near a school.

In Beirut, the Lebanese army said a Lebanese civil aviation student, Stephan Ohannis Nicolian, 43, took off in a plane belonging to a flying school and headed for south Lebanon in Israel's direction without the school's permission.

Israel army spokesman Ron Kitrey told Israel Radio that helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft crews had tried to warn the pilot of the Cessna aircraft that he was flying over Israel.

Kitrey said the warnings went unheeded and the Israelis shot down the plane. The army spokesman's office said Israel feared it carried explosive materials and might otherwise crash into one of Israel's cities.

Israel pulled out of south Lebanon a year ago, ending a 22-year occupation, and army officers had warned that Hizbollah fighters who led the Lebanese guerrilla campaign for Israel's withdrawal could attack to mark the anniversary.

The Lebanese army said in a statement that air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane when it entered Israeli air space.

NO PERMISSION TO FLY THE PLANE

``Without permission from the school's administration, he circled in the direction of south Lebanon, where he was intercepted by four Israeli jet fighters which forced him south,'' the Lebanese army said.

An Israeli witness named Sigal told Israel's Channel Two television that the Israeli air force fighters ``took off after the plane like a cat after a mouse.''

Israel's armed forces said its aircraft escorted the plane for 15 to 20 minutes along the coast southwards while deliberating what to do.

``The (Israeli) pilots signaled him in agreed international signals...and even fired a warning shot in front of him and at his side,'' Kitrey said.

``At a certain point, after he paid no attention to the warnings, it was decided to take it down and one of the helicopters hit it and it was taken down in the area of Mikhmoret beach (south of Haifa),'' he said.

Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas have launched attacks against Israeli troops and kidnapped three soldiers in the year since Israel withdrew its forces from Lebanese territory.

Israeli troops stationed on the Lebanon border have been on heightened alert. Israeli media this week showed pictures of Hizbollah guerrillas threatening to attack the Jewish state on the anniversary of its withdrawal.