From: vamg6792@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Mpthirus)
Subject: UPI: Hijackers of Ethiopian airliner surrender in Rome
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 23:28:42 GMT



	ROME (UPI) -- Five armed men hijacked an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 727
and took it on an odyssey that included stops in three Middle East
capitals before they surrendered Sunday in Rome, police said.
	The hijackers, who released all 75 passengers and crew peacefully,
asked for political asylum and presented a list of conditions that
Italian authorities agreed to consider.
	The hijackers, armed with pistols and submachine guns, left the
airliner along with its remaining nine crew members and surrendered to
police at 6:45 a.m. at the Ciampino military airport, police said.
	They were later charged with hijacking and illegal possession of
weapons and could face up to 21 years in prison, officials said. They
were transferred to Rome's Regina Coeli prison after interrogation at
police headquarters.
	Investigators said the five belonged to an opposition political group
in Ethiopia and embarked on air piracy to escape a harsh life in their
country. Police said they were calm during the hijack and were not
violent.
	``The striking thing was the appalling poverty of the plane, the
baggage and the plastic bags full of flour and lentils, the dirt and the
precarious condition of the flight instruments,'' one official said.
	The two-day hijack took the Boeing 727 to three Middle East capitals
and ended at 6.45 a.m. Sunday when the five surrendered to police at
Ciampino military airport and released the nine crewmen.
	The hijackers had released the 66 passengers at the airport of the
East African Republic of Djibouti during the first stop after
comandeering the plane Saturday afternoon upon departing the Ethiopian
capital of Addis Ababa on a flight to the Yemen Republic capital of
Sana'a.
	Rome's prefect Governor Carmelo Caruso said Sunday, ``The landing in
Rome was permitted because the plane was in an emergency situation.''
	The hijackers asked for their case to be heard by a special
commission composed of a member of the Italian government, a member of
the European Community and a representative of the U.N. High Commission
for Refugees, Caruso said.
	As an essential condition for their surrender they demanded -- and
received -- assurance that they would not be sent back to Ethiopia,
Caruso said.
	They also asked for a promise of financial support and a chance to
continue their studies -- a suggestion they are students.
	Caruso said the negotiators agreed to the hijackers' conditions and
promised that a commission would study whether their situation met
requirements for political asylum.
	The hijackers promised that they had committed no crime in Ethiopia,
but said had been subjected to ``restrictive measures'' because they
witnessed police actions that resulted in killings.
	``If the things they told us are true, I believe they will be granted
political asylum, which also means they will obtain state assistance,''
Caruso said.
	In return for these assurances, the hijackers left their weapons
aboard the plane and surrendered to police. The weapons included two
hand grenades, Caruso said.
	He said the hijackers claimed they ``chose to come to Italy because
of the civilized Italian laws.''
	Rome police identified the five Ethiopian hijackers as: Tsegaye
Andargay, 27, Ambuie Amblu, 34, Jirma Kibret, 24, Jonnas Ekubaslisae,
20, and Aligaz Ephrem, 26.
	Caruso said the hijackers realized they would have to appear before
an Italian magistrate on charges of hijacking.
	There had been unconfirmed reports while the plane was stopped in
Cairo that British Ambassador to Yemen Mark Marshall was among the
passengers held hostage.
	But the British Embassy in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a denied the
reports, saying the ambassador was on vacation in Europe.
	After leaving the Ethiopian capital Saturday, the plane flew to
Djibouti, where the passengers were released, then to the southern Yemen
port city of Aden, where Yemeni officials held fruitless discussions.
	Then the hijackers demanded the plane fly to Cairo, where it landed
at 8:15 p.m. Saturday. Egyptian officials boarded the plane and spoke to
the five armed men.
	The hijackers refused to explain their motives, saying only ``the
Egyptian government was not in a position to meet our demands,'' airport
officials said.
	The hijackers said they wanted to fly to Rome, Athens or Tel Aviv and
the Egyptians allowed the airliner to be refueled.
	It took off for Italy at 12:40 a.m. Sunday and landed at Rome's
Ciampino military airport at 2:35 a.m..
	The plane's pilot first sought permission to land at the main
Leonardo Da Vinci airport at Fiumicino, but was persuaded by Italian air
traffic officials to land at the smaller, top security Ciampino airport,
part of which is controlled by the military.
	There followed more than four hours of negotiation with Ethiopian
Ambassador Adis Alem Baalema, flanked in the airport control tower by
top Italian police officials, before the hijackers surrendered.
	One of the hijackers left the plane to take part in the negotiations,
police said. 
	It was the third hijacking involving an Ethiopian Airlines plane in
the past 12 months. The previous hijackers were former members of the
security service of ousted Ethiopian President Mengistu Haile Mariam.