Macedonian president postpones trip to Madagascar due to false alarm on plane

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov postponed his planned trip to Madagascar due to a security alarm at the Skopje airport late Wednesday, which was later proven to be a false one.

Ivanov was to travel to Madagascar's capital of Antananarivo for the World Francophone Summit, via Istanbul, Turkey, by a commercial Turkish Airlines flight.

The president was taken to a safe location and all other passengers were evacuated after a mobile phone suspected of connecting to an explosive device were found on one of the plane seats.

Special anti-terrorism squad established that it was only a common active mobile phone probably left by a previous passenger after inspecting the plane and the device.

Airport authorities lifted the alarm and the plane left for Istanbul at around midnight. However, Ivanov was not onboard the plane.

The Macedonian Ministry of Interior confirmed the incident, but there is no official announcement on whether the president has canceled the trip to Madagascar all together. Endi