الإرهاب و القرصنة الجوية

Abstract EN

Air Piracy or planes hijacking is one of the various forms of terrorism which is internationally agreed upon to be combated.

However, it is not the only form of terrorism that targets planes for there is a great deal of forms that pose danger to planes and passengers but yet not classified under the legal umbrella of air piracy.

The study thus tackles this subject by firstly setting forth a historical preview of air piracy as well as its whys and wherefores.

It raises the question: Did the tougher measures taken by countries and organizations in the aftermath of the 11 September Attacks put an end to this phenomenon? Attempting to answer the question, the study reviewed the international and Arab efforts to criminalize planes hijacking.

Such efforts included a host of international agreements regarding crimes targeting Civil Aviation and others about victims' condition.

Efforts also encompassed agreements on possession of hazardous materials; sea navigation - related crimes and terrorism fmance.The study also reviews international and Arab tireless efforts for combating and criminalizing terrorism including Arab Agreement for Combating Terrorism, UN Strategy for Combating Terrorism and the resolutions of the General Assembly and Security Council.

Putting forth its legal framework laid down by Lahai Agreement, the study poses planes' hijacking crime from an international and legal perspective, and moreover the study draws an analogy between planes hijacking and the other forms that target planes and not considered an air piracy.

Additionally, the study sets forth measures taken to curtail planes' hijacking crime and shows statistics of terrorist incidents in the period from 1998 to 2009 focusing on the evolvement of techniques used; such as bombing.

Finally, the study argues that notwithstanding the remarkable decrease of planes' hijacking incidents, yet other forms of terrorism still at their height.