TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hijackers Take Over Darfur Jet

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: August 27, 2008

TRIPOLI, Libya - Hijackers in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region seized a jetliner carrying nearly 100 people, including local Darfur officials, and forced it to land at a World War II-era airfield in the heart of the Sahara Desert in neighboring Libya, officials said.

A Libyan official at the remote Kufra airport said there were 10 hijackers belonging to a Darfur rebel group that were demanding enough fuel for the Boeing 737 to continue to France.

But the rebel group quickly denied any link to the hijacking.

The flight was commandeered soon after taking off from Nyala, capital of southern Darfur, en route to Khartoum, the national capital, said Yusuf Ibrahim, director of Khartoum's airport.

The airplane was diverted to Kufra, a desert oasis in southeast Libya close to the Sudanese and Egyptian borders, some 1,000 miles from Tripoli.

The Kufra airport official said the hijackers belonged to the Darfur rebel Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul-Wahid Nour. They rejected Libyan requests that they release women and children on the flight and allow provisions onto the plane, refusing any negotiations and demanding the refueling, the official said.

The official, who was privy to communications between the plane and airport officials, spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

SLM-Nour spokesman Yahia Bolad denied any involvement, saying his group has "no relation to this act."

"This is a fabrication by the Sudanese government and some criminals," said Bolad, from London. "We denounce and condemn this act. We want the protection of civilians wherever they are. This is a dirty conspiracy to defame" the rebels.

In the early hours today, the plane had not refueled and it was not known whether the Libyans would allow it to do so. The airfield has little communications equipment, and it was unclear how extensive the contacts were between the plane and the officials. Some Libyan troops are located at the facility, but their numbers were not known, and no additional forces or higher-ranking officials had arrived hours after the plane landed.

The hijacked airliner belongs to a private company, Sun Air, and was carrying 95 people, including crew and passengers, the Sudanese civil aviation authority said in a statement carried by the Sudan Media Center, which has close links to the government.

Among the passengers were former rebels on the Darfur Transitional Authority, an interim body responsible for implementing a peace pact.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT