Hijacked plane released in Somalia
Mogadishu, Oct. 5 (AP): Gunmen released a cargo plane and its Russian crew that had been hijacked in northern Somalia, authorities said on Friday.
Muse Gelle Yusuf, the governor of the northern Bari region where the plane was taken Thursday, said that clan elders had managed to convince the two young gunmen to release the plane and its cargo of qat, a mildly stimulating leaf chewed by many Somalis.
Earlier in the day, Yusuf had ordered troops to surround the plane in case negotiations failed.
``Our administration was planning to release the plane by force, but local clan elders succeeded in releasing it and its six crew members, including a Russian pilot and co-pilot,'' Yusuf said.
``The two hijackers are in the hands of the elders and we are expecting them to hand over to the security agents.
``Now we are investigating how the two young men got into the plane in the first place. All we know is that they were angry men fired from their jobs.''
He said the hijacking was not politically or financially motivated, but was the result of a dispute between two businessmen.
The plane started its flight from Ethiopia and had been bound for the coastal town of Bossaso, about 1,500 kilometers north of the capital of Mogadishu, when it was diverted to Las Qorey on Thursday.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when rival warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre then fought each other for power.
Banditry is rife and the impoverished country is awash with weapons.
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