The hijackers of a Sudanese plane forced to land in Libya have agreed to free women and children, the pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV channel reported on Wednesday.

The Qatar-based TV channel said negotiations between Libyan authorities and the hijackers of the plane are still under way but no further details were given.

However, Libya's state JANA news agency reported that the hijackers of the plane refused to negotiate but to release women and children.

The Sudanese passenger plane were hijacked on Tuesday en route from Niyala, the capital city of Sudan's South Darfur State, to the capital Khartoum. The plane later landed at Al-Kafra Airport in souther Libya.

The hijacked airliner belongs to a private company, Sun Air, and was carrying 95 people, including crew and passengers, the Sudanese civil aviation authority said in a statement.

The number of the hijackers was still not clear, nor the motives behind the action.

The Sudanese government is holding intensive contacts with Libya and called on the Libyan side to arrest the hijackers.

(Xinhua News Agency August 27, 2008)