Ukrainian Diplomats Meet Security Chiefs Over Detained Aircraft

Kola Oyelere, Kano - 20.06.2009

UKRAINIAN dip- lomats met Nigerian security officials on Friday over the detention of a Ukrainian aircraft carrying arms to Equatorial Guinea, officials said.

Two diplomats from Kiev’s embassy met for over an hour with army officers and security agents at the Air Force Base near Kano in Kano State, where the aircraft and its crew have been held since Wednesday, the security officials said.

The diplomats, who declined to speak with journalists, also met briefly with the seven detained Ukrainian crew.

The plane was detained after an early morning emergency landing at Kano airport due to technical problems.

Security officials are said to be exercising caution in the handling of the issue because it is not yet clear if the arms and ammunition on board the plane were illegal.

Sources said this was being done because the matter might eventually be settled diplomatically if it turned out that the impounded arms were legally-owned by Equatorial Guinea.