Sudan jet hijackers free passengers, hold crew: Libya (AFP)
3 minutes ago
TRIPOLI (AFP) - The two hijackers of a Sudanese airliner freed all the passengers at a remote airbase in the Libyan desert on Wednesday but continued to hold seven crew members, a Libyan official said.
"All of the passengers have left the plane," the official told AFP from Kufra oasis where the aircraft was forced to land on Tuesday evening.
"The two hijackers and the crew are still inside. We are continuing to negotiate with them."
The Sun Air Boeing 737 with some 100 passengers on board was hijacked shortly after takeoff from Darfur's largest city Nyala on Tuesday bound for Sudan's capital Khartoum.
It was granted permission to land at Libya's isolated World War II-era Kufra airport after running short of fuel.
Libyan official said the two hijackers of a Sudanese airliner freed all the passengers at a remote airbase in the Libyan desert but continued to hold seven crew members.(AFP/File/Olivier Laban-Mattei)" class="newsimage" />