3 Algerian Police Officers Hijack Jet, Give Up in Spain

Three Algerian policemen hijacked a domestic flight with 131 people aboard Monday and forced it to land in southern Spain. They surrendered hours later but were denied political asylum.

It was unclear whether the hijackers were fleeing political violence in Algeria, where Muslim radicals have targeted soldiers, police, intellectuals and foreigners in a two-year campaign against the army-backed regime.

The Air Algerie plane was en route from Oran, in western Algeria, to Annaba, near the Tunisian border, when the three forced the crew to divert the jet across the Mediterranean to the southern Spanish town of Alicante, authorities said.

The Boeing 727, carrying 124 passengers and seven crew members, landed without seeking permission from air traffic controllers, and paramilitary Civil Guards surrounded it, authorities said.

The hijackers carried handguns throughout the five-hour ordeal that was prolonged by language problems between Spanish negotiators and the Arabic- and French-speaking hijackers, said Alfonso Calve, civil governor of the Alicante region. Calve said the three policemen will remain in custody pending an investigation and will not be granted the political asylum they had requested.