Most hostages freed from hijacked Sudanese plane .
STANSTED , England 1996-08-27
Armed hijackers believed to be Iraqis released 140 people on Tuesday from a Sudan Airways plane carrying 199 passengers and crew that landed in London after being diverted on a flight from Khartoum to Amman , police said .
Police spokesman Roger Grimwade said the six or seven hijackers remained on board the aircraft , which arrived from Cyprus at 4.30 a.m. ( 0330 GMT ) .
He said they had made various requests to police negotiators but stepped back from earlier suggestions that the hijackers had asked to speak to a British-based Iraqi police named as Mr Sadiki .
The hijackers , who have said they want to seek asylum in Britain , are believed to be armed with grenades and possibly other explosives , according to police .
They earlier threatened to blow up the aircraft .
The Airbus A310 was diverted first to Cyprus , then to Britain .