Libya/Sudan

Hijackers give themselves up, rebel leader disowns them

Article published on the 2008-08-27 Latest update 2008-08-27 15:57 TU

The Boeing 737 on the tarmac at Kufra
(Photo: Reuters)

Two hijackers of a Sudanese plane surrendered shortly after releasing 87 passengers whom they had been holding hostage, according to Libyan officials. The two claimed to be members of the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) but the group's leader, Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur, who is in exile is in Paris, denied any connection to the hijacking.

"They have now surrendered," said a Libyan official, almost 24 hours after the plane was forced to land at the desert airport of Kufra.

The hijackers, who boarded the plane at Darfur's main city of Nyala, had claimed to be from the SLA and Khartoum has demanded that they be arrested and deported as "terrorists".

But SLM leader Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur told RFI's French-language service that he has nothing to do with the two men and accused the Sudanese government of exploiting the incident for its own purposes.

Earlier, Libyan officials had said that the hijackers were still holding the crew and demanding a flight plan to Paris and fuel.

Freed passengers described the night as "terrifying" and said that the hijackers were armed with small-calibre pistols.

Libya's civil aviation director Mohammed Shlibaq, quoted by the official Jana news agency, said that two Egyptian members of the UN-led Darfur peacekeeping force, two Ethiopians and a Ugandan were among the passengers.

Jana also reported that among the passengers were several Sudanese officials, including the tribal affairs adviser at the Provisional Authority in Darfur Yaqub al-Malik Mohamed Yaqub.