Angola to Free U.S. Pilot, Jackson Says
Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson said Friday night that an American pilot held by the Angolan government since April 21 will be freed soon, “maybe by week’s end.”
The Democratic presidential hopeful said Angola demanded that he go to the African nation to be on hand for the release of Joseph Longo of Greensburgh, Pa.
“We talked to the vice minister of foreign affairs and they have agreed to release him,” Jackson told the annual meeting of the Americans for Democratic Action. “The first condition was that I would go to Angola to bring him back.
“It appears now that the American pilot is going to be released, maybe by week’s end without our having to go.”
State Department spokeswoman Deborah Cavin said that Jackson told U.S. officials Friday morning of the Angolan statement.
“While we have no independent confirmation, we certainly hope it is true,” she said.
Longo, 33, had been hired by Pilot International in Wichita, Kan., to deliver a Beechcraft airplane to a South African firm. He apparently strayed over Angola and was forced down.
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