UAE says flydubai co-pilot scouted Tel Aviv route on prior flights

UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi said Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami, 29, tried to hijack a Sept. 30 flydubai flight to Tel Aviv intending to cause "the greatest possible number of human casualties," modeled on the Sept. 11 attacks. Investigators said he had taken two earlier flights to Tel Aviv to study the route and Ben Gurion Airport. Officials said his radicalization began in 2017 while studying in Melbourne, Australia, where he associated with people tied to an Islamic center he said was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, influenced by takfiri ideology.