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Hijacked Afghan plane in Moscow

MOSCOW, Feb 6 (Reuters, AFP) — A hijacked Afghan airliner with more than 160 passengers on board today landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo-1 Airport, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said.

The plane, belonging to Afghanistan national carrier Ariana, touched down at 9.41 p.m. (6.41 p.m. GMT), a duty officer said. It earlier made brief stopovers at the Kazakh city of Aktyubinsk and the Uzbek capital Tashkent.

A Kazakh official in Aktyubinsk said three passengers had been allowed to leave the plane in Aktyubinsk — one suffering from a heart conditon and the other two close relatives — taking the total number of passengers released so far to 13.

ISLAMABAD: The hijackers are demanding the release of an opposition figurehead detained by the ruling Taliban, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency said.

It said the hijackers were demanding that the Taliban free Ismail Khan, a former Governor of Herat province who had been detained since 1997.

The Boeing 727 jetliner took off from the Afghan capital, Kabul, this morning heading for the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, the Taliban administration said. After being reported missing for three hours, the plane landed briefly in Tashkent, where 10 passengers were reportedly released.

Hijackers had threatened to blow up the jet while it was on the ground in Tashkent unless the plane was refuelled, Interfax news agency reported.

Itar-Tass news agency said 24 tonnes of fuel had been provided to the plane before it took off from Tashkent for the Aktyubinsk airport in northwestern Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, a report from Kabul said the hijacker was former Afghan Governor, Gula Agha, who held his post before the Taliban militia seized power, quoting an Afghan opposition spokesman.