Hijackers of Sudanese Airliner Release Passengers

All passengers were freed from a Sudanese jet hijacked by about 10 rebels after leaving Sudan’s war-battered Darfur region.

Certain hijackers, however, were negotiating with Libyan authorities while staying inside the airplane along with crew members.

Immediately after taking off, Sudan’s Sun Air flight was hijacked Tuesday afternoon after landing on the military airport at Kufra in southern Libya for refueling en route to Paris.

The airplane was supposed to move from Nyala Airport in Darfur to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.

Libya’s official JANA news agency said hijackers identified themselves as members of a branch of the Sudanese Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid Al-Nur, who is living in Paris.

Al-Nur, however, denied involvement to the Arabic network Al Jazeera.

A commander of the Sudan Liberation Movement blamed the incident on the Sudanese government, saying Sudan suppressed people in refugee camps. A day before the Monday hijacking, the Sudanese government allegedly killed 33 people in a gunfight with residents in a refugee camp in western Darfur.

Before releasing passengers, hijackers rejected a request to free women and children and offers for food, demanding fuel to get the plane to Paris.

esprit@donga.com