afrol News, 27 August - A hijacked Sudanese passenger plane has landed in Libya for refueling en route on to Paris.

Passenger plane was hijacked on Tuesday, shortly after take-off from Nyala in war-torn Darfur region, carrying around 100 passengers including three suspected Darfur rebel members on board.

Officials have said the three were initially suspected to be involved but Mr Minni Arkou Minnawi, Sudan Liberation Movement leader denied the allegations.

A man waving a knife is said to have hijacked jetliner forcing it to land at World War II-era airfield in Sahara Desert in neighboring Libya, whereas initially, it had to route Khartoum, reports said.

"It was not clear whether one or several hijackers were involved, as there is lack of communication," Director of Khartoum's airport, Yusuf Ibrahim told media.

Hijackers have been identified as hard-line group, whose leader lives in France, AFP news agency reported.

The group it is alleged, initially requested to land in Cairo, but refused entry, and were allowed by Libyan official to land after signaled for plane refuel, officials reported.

After the hijacked plane landed in Libya, some passengers were freed unharmed, Libyan officials reported, saying some had fainted after air-conditioner had failed.

Reports from Libya also said a pilot has confirmed that there were ten or more hijackers identifying themselves as rebels from Sudanese Liberation Army of Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur.

A five-year conflict in war-torn Darfur region has left about 200,000 dead and more than two million homeless.

There is still however no signal yet of how this hijacking is related to the conflict between rebels and government, reports have said.

By staff writer

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories