Hijacked plane forced to Sudan

Hijackers forced a plane carrying about 70 Eritreans from Libya to land in the Sudanese capital today before surrendering to security forces, according to a UN refugee agency official.

Michael Lindenbauer, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees deputy representative in Khartoum, said the plane had left southern Libya bound for Eritrea when unidentified hijackers forced the passenger plane to land in Sudan.

“We know the hijacking is over because they surrendered to authorities,” Lindenbauer said.

The plane landed at a Khartoum airport and the hijacking ended soon after, said Lindenbauer before interviewing the Eritreans to determine their situations, particularly if they were deportees.

Tarek Abu Saleh, a Sudanese Foreign Ministry official who was at the airport at the time, said 20 Eritreans aboard a Libyan aircraft allegedly threatened the crew and forced it to land at Khartoum. He said one crew member was slightly injured.

He said the 20 suspected hijackers were now in Sudanese custody and the plane has departed. He had no other details.

Abu Saleh was at the airport to escort US political activist Jesse Jackson on a fact-finding mission to Darfur.