British holidaymakers grounded an airliner in Cyprus for nearly a day when two British Muslims alarmed other passengers

Michael Theodoulou:

The Excel Airways flight from Larnaca to Manchester was due to leave Cyprus on Sunday - the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks - but was cancelled after passengers refused to fly amid fears they were being targeted by bombers.

The scare began when two Muslim men, believed to be British of Pakistani origin, boarded the flight.

Passengers yesterday said cabin crew became suspicious when one of the men refused to leave the onboard toilet as the plane prepared for take-off.

When he finally emerged, he told a stewardess he had been praying.

The men were then removed from the aircraft and questioned by police, and the flight was cancelled after many of the passengers remaining on board refused to fly.

The rescheduled flight eventually left Cyprus yesterday afternoon, but without the two men, who were released without charge after being questioned by police.

The airline company yesterday insisted the men had been removed because of "disruptive behaviour", not because they had aroused the suspicions of other holidaymakers, a claim last night denied by local police and passengers.

"The appearance and behaviour of two individuals roused suspicion and then the pilot refused to continue with them after the reaction from the other passengers," Demetris Demetriou, a Cyprus police spokesman said.

"They were questioned, their passports checked for authenticity, and nothing came up against them," Mr Demetriou said. He said the two men had been on a pilgrimage to see a Muslim spiritual figure in northern Cyprus, after crossing the island's dividing "green line". He had not heard that they caused "any trouble" on the plane, but the pilot and passengers had responded to one of the men's "appearance" and "behaviour".

The two men who had been offloaded were "innocent", he believed.

Passengers boarding the belated flight yesterday spoke of suspicious rather than disruptive behaviour as the plane was preparing for take-off.

The two Muslims stood out from the casually dressed returning holidaymakers from the beginning because they had beards and wore white skull-caps and long robes, one passenger said.

"Everyone was joking: 'I bet they're bombers'," one passenger said.

"One of them went to the toilet and was there for ages," said Paul Teasdale, 39, a businessman from Wakefield in Yorkshire. "A stewardess went and knocked on the door and he wouldn't come out."

When the man emerged, he explained that he had been praying, Mr Teasdale said. "But he was sweating. When they took him off, a lot of people didn't want to fly in case there was a bomb. Some people were crying."

Mr Teasdale said if the captain had insisted on flying on Sunday night, "the plane would have been half full" because many passengers would have insisted on disembarking. "The day was September 11, although we only realised it later. I wouldn't fly if they [the two British Muslims] were on the plane now," he added.

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