KHARTOUM, 31 March 2007 — A Sudanese man armed with a knife hijacked a Sudan Airways plane from Libya yesterday and asked that it be flown to South Africa but the pilot convinced him to allow the plane to land in Khartoum, officials said. Special Forces arrested the hijacker after the aircraft landed safely in the Sudanese capital, a Civil Aviation Authority official said.
“The hijacker burst into the pilot’s cabin about one and a half hours from landing and told the captain he wanted to meet with the British ambassador, then he asked to meet the American ambassador and the media,” Abdel Hafiz Abdel-Rahim told Reuters.
“Snipers dressed as journalists then took him into custody,” he added. The plane, which was carrying 210 passengers, began its journey in Tripoli. Police released a statement later saying the hijacker was “mentally ill” and trying to take the plane to South Africa but the pilot persuaded him to land in Khartoum. Abdel-Rahim said the hijacker identified himself as Haloub Saeed but authorities were trying to confirm this.
Meanwhile, the United Nations’ top human rights body yesterday kept up the pressure on Sudan over Darfur, but stopped short of blaming Khartoum for widespread killings and rape in its vast western region. A resolution, passed unanimously by the 47-state Human Rights Council in Geneva, expressed deep concern at the “seriousness of ongoing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Darfur.”
The text, agreed after days of hard wrangling between European and African states, instructed council special investigators into abuse, including torture and violence against women, to scrutinize Khartoum’s compliance with past international recommendations and report back in June.
“The decision is a success for the European Union, it is a success for Africa, it is a success for the Human Rights Council and we hope very much that it will be a success for the people of Darfur,” said ambassador Michael Steiner of Germany.
