Netanyahu issues warning over FlyDubai attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that whoever is found to be behind the attack on a FlyDubai flight could face a ‘very heavy price’, although investigators have yet to establish who was responsible.

The warning came after a FlyDubai aircraft carrying 174 people was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia following an attack in the cockpit involving its co-pilot and captain.

Netanyahu said investigators were increasingly convinced that the co-pilot had undergone Islamist radicalisation and intended to crash the aircraft with its passengers on board, as per France24.

He also raised the possibility that the attacker may have been acting on behalf of someone else.

‘We are investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price,‘ Netanyahu said.

The Israeli prime minister did not identify a country or organisation as being behind the incident.

The question of whether the co-pilot acted alone remains part of the wider investigation, which is being handled in the United Arab Emirates after the men were transferred there.

The UAE has also described the incident as a terrorist act, with senior official Anwar Gargash praising the captain for helping prevent what could have been a major disaster.

FlyDubai chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith has urged people to allow the official investigation to establish what happened.

‘It is important that we allow this process to establish the facts,‘ he said.

The incident has also sparked speculation about a possible Iranian connection. US President Donald Trump said he had been “hearing” that Iran was involved and warned the country would be hit hard if that proved to be the case.

No evidence establishing Iranian involvement has been publicly provided.

For now, the motive behind the attack and whether anyone else was involved remain under investigation.

Netanyahu’s latest warning therefore comes before investigators have publicly established who, if anyone, may have directed the attack.

The immediate crisis ended with the aircraft landing safely in Saudi Arabia, but the investigation is now focused on answering the bigger questions surrounding the cockpit assault and the co-pilot’s intentions.

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**Picture: **Ryan Murphy / Gallo Images

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