Czechs say 3 Egyptians attacked plane cockpit last year

PRAGUE, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Three Egyptians tried to break into the cockpit of a Czech Airlines plane last year in what may have been a test of security measures ahead of a full-scale attack, the Czech counter intelligence agency said on Tuesday.

The Security Information Service BIS said in its annual report the men were "suspected of a role in the preparation of a terrorist attack on civilian aircraft".

"The three men tried to break into the cockpit of a Czech Airlines plane during the OK 447 flight from Oslo to Prague," the report said.

"The suspicion that it was a test of the safety measures on Czech aircraft was neither confirmed nor refuted."

The BIS said the men were detained upon the flight's landing in Prague and deported immediately to Egypt.

"They did not use any violence, the stewards stopped them and they made an excuse that they were looking for a stewardess and that they wanted to buy chewing gum," a BIS spokesman said.

The Czechs, who have a small unit in international forces in Afghanistan and military police experts in Iraq, have not been targeted by Islamic extremists.

But last month the government deployed police armed with submachine guns in central Prague, acting upon intelligence from foreign security services of a possible terrorist attack.

BIS confirmed in a separate statement a newspaper report that this attack was to be aimed against Jewish targets during religious holidays between September 23 and October 15.

Prague has a small historic Jewish quarter, packed with foreign tourists all year round.

The NATO and EU member country has a small Muslim community of about 8,000 people. The BIS said it had seen no signs the community was radicalising. ((Reporting by Jan Lopatka, prague.newsroom@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: jan.lopatka.reuters.com@reuters.net; +420-224 190 474; edited by Richard Meares))

Keywords: SECURITY CZECH