Sudanese passenger plane hijacked by gunman

KHARTOUM, Jan 24 (Reuters) A Sudanese passenger plane has been hijacked in Khartoum by an unknown gunman who diverted the plane to the Chadian capital N'Djamena, an airline official said today.

''There are 103 people on board,'' said Ahmed Salih, commercial manager of the Air West airline which operates the Boeing 737 plane.

''It was hijacked at 09:00 a m (1130 IST) and will arrive in N'Djamena at 11:00 a m,'' he said.

''So far there is one hijacker with an AK-47 machine gun,'' he said. He added there were no other demands made by the hijacker, whose identity is unknown.

Another source at Khartoum airport told Reuters the plane was destined for el-Fasher, the main town in Sudan's western Darfur region.

It was not clear how the hijacker got on board the plane with a weapon, but Sudanese security is often lax, especially on nternal flights.

REUTERS PB BS1356