text: 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 .