Sudan Jet With 199 Aboard Hijacked; Asylum Demanded

LARNACA, Cyprus — A Sudanese jetliner carrying 199 passengers and crew members was hijacked Monday en route to Jordan. A hijacker claiming to have grenades and TNT demanded asylum in London.

After refueling in Cyprus, Flight 150 of state-run Sudan Airways took off again bound for Britain. One hijacker promised to free all 186 passengers and 13 crew members and surrender once the plane reached London, said Glafcos Xenos, a police spokesman in the control tower at Larnaca International Airport.

Even after the plane left Cyprus, police said they did not know exactly how many hijackers were aboard the Airbus 310, or what their nationalities were.

During the two hours the airliner was on the ground here, authorities tried to win the release of at least the women and children on the plane, police spokesman Tasos Panayiotou said.

“But the hijackers threatened to use hand grenades and TNT,” he said. “We did our utmost but were not able to win the release of any passengers.”

Authorities allowed the plane to refuel and take off on the four-hour flight to London.

The plane left Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, about 6:30 p.m. en route to Amman, Jordan, and was hijacked about 25 minutes later, said Mohammed Qassem, an aviation official in the control tower in Cairo.

The Middle East has seen a series of hijackings involving Sudanese nationals in recent years.

Two Sudanese men hijacked a Sudanese airliner to the neighboring country of Eritrea in March, where they surrendered without injury to the 49 passengers and crew members.