[Another "Fundies Do The Darndest Things": Christian extremist hijacks Turkish Airlines flight.]

A Turkish hijacker seeking to communicate with
Pope Benedict seized an airliner flying from Albania to Istanbul on Tuesday and diverted it to Italy before surrendering.

[...] Turkish media later identified the hijacker as Hakan Ekinci, a convert to Christianity who had written to the Pope in late August, asking for his help to avoid compulsory military service in Turkey.

Turkey's Dogan News Agency said Ekinci was born in the western Turkish province of Izmir in 1978 and had been convicted of fraud and pickpocketing. It said he traveled to Albania in May this year and did not return.

Dogan quoted from his letter: "Dear Pope, I am Hakan Ekinci. I am a Christian and I never want to serve a Muslim army. I wish you to help me as the spiritual leader of the Christian world."