KHARTOUM -- Sudanese special forces Wednesday arrested a soldier who said he had hijacked an aircraft carrying 36 people because it was the only way he could think of to get his wife to Cairo, the Sudanese news agency SUNA reported.


Announcing the end of the hijack in Port Sudan, the agency said the couple were detained by special forces who had flown from Khartoum. It was not clear if the couple surrendered or if the special troops stormed the Fokker aircraft.


The agency said the man, Mohammad Jubara Mohammad, 37, was a corporal. It was not clear how he took control of the Sudan Airways aircraft, which was on a flight between Khartoum and Merawai, 300 kilometers to the north.


The hijackers had demanded that the captain fly to Cairo, but he convinced them it did not have enough fuel and so set down at the Red Sea port.