Possible hijack of Qatar flight foiled -witness

DOHA, Aug 10 (Reuters) A possible attempt to hijack a Qatar Airways flight from Jordan to Qatar was foiled today, a witness told Qatar-based Al Jazeera television.

''Just after takeoff, one of the passengers moved towards the cockpit and, when one of the flight attendants stood in his way, he hit him (the attendant),'' Samir Samri, a passenger on the flight, told Al Jazeera by telephone.

Samri said the man appeared to be about 20 years old and from an African country.

''It might not have been a hijack attempt,'' he said.

Samri said the man had been detained and that the plane had returned to the Jordan capital Amman minutes after taking off.

REUTERS MQA KP2242