US fears terrorists may have jet

A Boeing 727 jet that made an unauthorised take-off from Luanda airport three weeks ago may be in the hands of terrorists, United States officials say.

The CIA has alerted operatives across Africa and asked countries in flying range of Angola to help in the search for the aircraft.

Satellite read-outs of airstrips with the minimum 2000 metres of tarmac it needs to land have failed to show any signs of the aircraft, which took off on in daylight on May25.

US authorities say the aircraft, which had been at the airport since March last year, may have been taken as part of shady business deal and to avoid paying $A6.5 million in airport taxes.

Chris Yates, a civil aviation security analyst for Jane's Aviation, said he had never come across a similar incident. "There is, however, a very murky world in African aviation, including gun running and diamond smuggling, where planes are not always properly registered."

Mr Yates said the aircraft was at one point in the hands of a firm linked to an airline that flew cargo into Afghanistan for the Taliban before the US invasion.

The Telegraph, London