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DUBAI, Feb 22 (AFP) – Sri Lankan Airlines has dropped a lawsuit against 10 French nationals, who were detained in Dubai after an inflight fracas led the pilot to make an unscheduled stop, following payment of 50,000 dirhams (USD 13,624), French consul general Robert Jongeryck said Sunday.
“Sri Lankan has signed a paper recognising it was withdrawing its complaint,” alleging their behaviour on a flight from Colombo to Paris endangered the safety of passengers, he told AFP.
However the group, who were freed Wednesday after six days in a detention centre in Dubai as legal negotiations with the airline advanced, were not yet to be allowed to leave Dubai.
The 10, who have been staying in a hotel, were to see the Dubai prosecutor on Monday in an effort to persuade the authorities to close their file and return their passports.
Few details of the case have emerged officially, but in Rouen, northwestern France, Juliette Guenza said Tuesday her son Yvan and nephew Nicolas had intervened in a bid to settle an argument between a stewardess and another French passenger, following her refusal to serve him more alcohol.
© AFP
Subject: France news