A Lebanese man who tried to hijack a Royal Jordanian flight to Malaysia on Sept 13 is "mentally ill", an official at Lebanon's embassy in Jordan said today.

"We have received documents from the Lebanese foreign ministry that Jamal Seif is mentally ill and we have passed them on to Jordan's foreign ministry," the official said, asking not to be named.

Seif, a warrant officer in the Lebanese army, has in the past been treated in Lebanese hospitals.

Nabbed on route

Jordanian air marshals foiled the attempted hijacking by overpowering the Lebanese passenger as the Jordanian plane prepared to land in Bangkok, officials said.

Seif had claimed he was carrying explosives and wanted to hijack the plane, Information Minister Nabil Sharif said, but no weapons were found in a search of the aircraft and his luggage.

He was to be flown back to Amman for questioning, according to Sharif. - AFP