Gunmen Seize Paris-Bound Jet in Algeria : North Africa: Hijackers are believed to be Muslim extremists. Some of 283 aboard flight are released. Two are reported killed.

Four gunmen be lieved to be Muslim extremists seized a Paris-bound French jet filled with holiday travelers Saturday and killed two of them, Algeria’s Interior minister said.

The leader of the hijackers was identified as Abdul Abdallah Yahia of the Armed Islamic Group, Algeria’s most violent and radical fundamentalist group.

France Info Radio said the hijackers demanded the release of Abassi Madani and Ali Belhadj, the two top leaders of the outlawed Islamic Salvation Front, a more moderate fundamentalist group.

Madani and Belhadj are being held by Algerian authorities under house arrest after being released earlier this year from Blida prison where they were serving 12-year sentences for activities against the state.

The hijacking of the plane and its 283 occupants came nearly three years after Muslim fundamentalists began their revolt against the nation’s military-backed government.

The hijackers had freed at least 57 hostages by Saturday evening, officials said. One freed hostage said the gunmen had handed out veils for women to cover their heads.

The gunmen demanded that the plane take off for an undisclosed destination, said Interior Minister Abderrahmane Meziane-Cherif. He declined to elaborate.

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Those killed were an Algerian policeman who was a passenger on the plane and another person, Cherif said. Their bodies were dumped out of the plane.

Six gunshots were heard late Saturday night, but it was not clear who did the firing.

Airport sources said negotiations were under way. In two hijackings that ended peacefully in Spain earlier this year, the release of jailed fundamentalist leaders was demanded but rejected.

Passengers were being released in small groups. Most of them were women and children.

“I crossed two bodies while leaving the plane,” said a young woman who had been freed. She said the men “are armed, they are holding Muslim prayers and handed out veils for the women to cover their heads.”

There were conflicting reports about how the men commandeered the plane. An Air France spokesman in Paris said the group, dressed as ground personnel, first blocked the Airbus jetliner at Algiers’ Houari Boumedienne Airport shortly before it was to leave, then boarded it.

Airport sources speaking on condition of anonymity said the men got on the plane while passengers were boarding.

The flight had 271 passengers and 12 crew members aboard as it prepared to depart at 11:15 a.m., Air France said.

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Security forces and firefighters took up positions around the airliner, and the airport was shut down and evacuated, officials said. The plane was parked about 300 yards from the terminal.

Most of the passengers were Algerian. About 20 were French nationals, one was Tunisian, one Chinese and one Vietnamese, Cherif said. Two French diplomats also were said to be aboard, but a French Foreign Ministry spokesman declined to confirm the report.

In Paris, worried friends and family members of the passengers gathered at Orly Airport late Saturday.

The Muslim insurgency against the government in the former French colony has claimed more than 11,000 lives. It began in January, 1992, when the army canceled elections that a Muslim party was expected to win.

More than 70 foreigners have been killed since insurgents began targeting them in September, 1993, in an attempt to drive out the foreign capital and expertise that support Algeria’s oil industry.

Deadly clashes between militants and security forces have increased in recent months, and blackouts have hit the capital in the past week.

Security forces said they killed 40 more militants between Tuesday and Friday.

The U.S. State Department issued an advisory Friday urging Americans to stay out of the North African nation.

Air France has stepped up its security in recent months, leaving only two foreign employees and no planes in Algeria overnight.

Air France canceled its flights to Algeria scheduled for today.