Sudanese plane hijacked from Darfur lands in Libya

August 26, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — A Sudanese passenger plane was hijacked on Tuesday after leaving the town of Nyala in Darfur and has landed in Libya, the Arabic satellite TV channel Al Jazeera said.

Al Jazeera said 87 passengers were on board the plane, which belongs to a private local operator. It had been bound for Khartoum from Nyala, the capital of war-torn South Darfur.

Egyptian authorities denied it permission to land and the plane changed course towards Libya, it said.

The Arabic satellite news channel Al Arabiya said it flew to the oasis town of Al Khufrah in southeastern Libya to refuel and the hijacker, a Sudanese man, wanted the plane to fly to Cairo.

A spokesman for the Sudanese Civil Aviation Authority, Abdel Hafiz Abdel Rahim, said: “A plane has been hijacked and is thought to be in Libya.”

An aviation source said the plane belonged to Sunair, a Khartoum-based private airline.

Communications with the plane were cut off after the hijacking, Al Jazeera said.

The Darfur region has been a conflict area since a rebellion against Khartoum’s rule broke out five years ago. International experts say more than 2.5 million Darfuris have been driven from their homes and 200,000 people killed in the violence. Sudan puts the death toll at about 10,000.

(Reuters)