LONDON, Aug 30: Security at all European airports was stepped up on Friday after an armed Arab man tried to hijack a London-bound passenger jet on Thursday afternoon.

The security at a Stockholm airport found a loaded gun in the hand- luggage of the 29-year-old man. He was part of a group of 20 people on their way to London. The Swedish authorities have charged him with hijacking. The man is Swedish national but of Tunisian origin. His pistol, said to be loaded, was kept in his toiletry bag and was detected by an X-ray machine at the airport. He was arrested on the spot.

The plane was carrying 189 passengers, all whom had to be evacuated while the police searched the cabin and luggage compartment delaying the flight for over six hours.

Security at all European airports is extremely tight as there are fears that supporters of Osama bin Laden may try to commit a new atrocity to coincide with the anniversary of Sept 11.

This incident has provoked a state of renewed alert at airports. A police spokesman in Sweden, Ulf Palm, said: “We believe he was going to hijack the plane.” He said the man was also charged with illegal possession of a firearm. The police now have four days in which to question him before he must make a first court appearance.

The suspect is said to have a criminal record in Sweden for violence and theft. A group of 20 Arabs who were travelling together with the man have been released following hours-long questioning.

The suspect told the Swedish security officers he did not know anything about the gun in his bag. He said he was on his way to an Islamic conference in the British city of Birmingham. But a spokesman for the Islamic conference in Birmingham, Yusuf Bowers, said on Friday he was not aware of anyone due to attend from Sweden.

He said his group condemned any form of terrorism. Abu Kahadeejah, one of the conference organizers, said he was not aware that the man was a delegate, and told BBC Radio WM: “I don’t think he was heading for the conference and even if he was, I don’t think he would have made it with a gun in his bag.”

The conference, which attracts up to 3,000 Muslims from across Europe, is organized by Salafi Publications. Richard Reid, the alleged shoebomber awaiting trial in the United States for attempting to blow up a flight to Boston, was taught the fundamentalist Salafi version of Islam, but was disowned by the sect after his arrest. The Salafi version of Islam has its base in Algeria.