Shoot-Out Ends Bus Hijacking on Papal Route

Minutes after Pope John Paul II rode through this African capital Wednesday night, rebels holding a church bus full of children and nuns rammed the vehicle into the front gate of the British mission here and launched a gun battle with the South African commandos surrounding them.

Three of the hijackers and a young woman hostage died, the South African police said in a statement issued in Pretoria. In addition, 11 of the 69 hostages were injured, four seriously, “by the wild firing of the hijackers,” they said.

End of 2-Day Ordeal

The brief but bloody shoot-out, which echoed across this small town, ended a two-day ordeal that began when four men, carrying a rifle, a 9-millimeter pistol and two hand grenades, commandeered the bus with 71 people on board. The passengers, most of whom were teen-agers, were making the 250-mile journey from their homes in remote southeastern Lesotho to see the Pope.

The hijackers forced the bus driver to crash through two roadblocks en route to Maseru, where the cream-colored bus stopped in front of the British High Commission, or embassy, on a quiet, tree-lined lane near downtown and the men asked permission to enter the compound. It was refused, and a 26-hour wait began.

The men told passengers they were members of the Lesotho Liberation Army, a rebel group seeking to oust the country’s military junta and replace it with a constitutional monarchy. A man claiming to speak for the group denied the group’s involvement, however, and some Western diplomats here speculated that the men were part of a splinter group.

More than 100 soldiers and police officers set up roadblocks with armored cars to seal off the area to spectators.

S. African Squad Arrives

An elite anti-terrorist squad of white South Africans arrived on the scene early Wednesday and joined the Lesotho authorities in surrounding the bus.

South African officials said the commando team was sent at the Lesotho government’s request, but a Lesotho official denied that any South African troops were present or had been asked for. The night before the Lesotho officials had denied the bus hijacking.

Early Wednesday one of the hostages, an unidentified man, escaped by crawling through the bus window as one of the terrorists opened fire on him with an AK-47 automatic assault rifle. He was not injured.

A second hostage, one of eight nuns on board, was released later in the day with a letter demanding meetings with several people, including the Pope, the king of Lesotho, the British ambassador and local politicians.

Lesotho Rejects Demands

“Every life must be spared, but we will not under any circumstances give in to the demands of terrorists,” Tom Thabane, general secretary of Lesotho’s ruling Military Council, declared at a news conference.

The hostages had gone on a hunger strike, Thabane said, refusing to eat or drink “as part of their Christian suffering.” No food or water had been provided for them.

Meanwhile, the Pope’s plane, en route from Botswana to Lesotho as part of his 10-day, five-nation southern Africa tour, was diverted by rain and fog here Wednesday morning and landed in Johannesburg, South Africa, from where his entourage drove to Maseru.

Spectators were lining the road when the Pope and his entourage crossed the border bridge after dark into Maseru. About 300 yards away, the pilgrims who had come to see him waited as the rebels paced up and down the aisle of the bus.

Although the hijackers had demanded to see the Pope, among other luminaries, none of those named had indicated they would agree to meet with the men.

Pope Driven to Roma

As the silver BMW sedan carrying the pontiff headed for Roma, 20 miles away, for a nighttime Mass, shots were heard in the residential area that Lesotho authorities had blocked off around the bus. Then, after a few minutes, more shots were heard.

When journalists arrived a short time later, ambulances were carrying away the injured and police officers were photographing the scene. The bus, with the pilgrims’ luggage still intact on top, had torn through the front gate and was inside the British mission courtyard. All of its windows had been shot out.

Lesotho police ordered reporters to leave and, in several instances, beat them with whips to hasten their departure.

By demanding to see the Pope on the eve of John Paul’s three-day visit here, the hijackers had raised the possibility that the pontiff might skip his stop here altogether.

Began Tuesday Morning

The passengers’ pilgrimage began early Tuesday morning at a Catholic church in Qacha’s Nek. On the bus were 10 men, 17 women, 36 teen-agers from two parochial schools and the eight nuns. All were Basotho, as the Lesotho people are known, except one 63-year-old nun who is a French Canadian.

The four guerrillas had boarded the bus before it picked up the remainder of the passengers, and until the men pulled out their weapons many of those on board thought they were conductors.

Authorities said they knew there was trouble when the bus filled up its tank at a service station and, under orders from the men, drove off without paying. The station manager called police, who set up roadblocks in an attempt to stop the bus.

It was not clear why the men chose to seek entry to the British Mission, but in their letter the guerrillas complained about Britain’s training program for Lesotho’s army and police forces. Three British army officers have been stationed here since 1982 to train local troops in this former British protectorate; the country has a smaller program for training police officers.

Went Into Exile

The Lesotho Liberation Army, the military wing of an opposition political party, the Basotho Congress Party, went into self-imposed exile nearly 15 years ago to oppose the leftist government of former Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan.

From time to time, the guerrilla army staged raids against the government from bases near the border in South Africa, which surrounds this nation. Several bombings and killings were blamed on the group, which reportedly had South African backing.

The guerrillas left Lesotho after a January, 1986, coup deposed Jonathan and installed a military government more favorable to South Africa. Their current leaders have been negotiating to restore relations with the six-member Military Council, which rules the country along with King Moshoeshoe II.

Lesotho, with 1.6 million people, is one of the world’s poorest countries, and its economy is highly dependent on South Africa. Many of Lesotho’s men work in South Africa’s gold mines.