SA pilots held in Angola

[flyingfarmer]

Does anybody know about the two SA pilots that are being held in Luanda.I understand they were flying a Premier 1.

[Deanw]

SA pilots angry at 'detention'
16/02/2004 16:32 - (SA)

Tisha Steyn

Cape Town - "We don't know why we are being kept here," says Graham Conlyn, one of two pilots who flew four Indian businessmen to Luanda, Angola, on Tuesday last week.

Ashwani Puri, an Indian banker who owns 75% of the Lord Krishna Bank in India, was murdered in his hotel room in the posh Presidente Meridien the following night.

Conlyn and co-pilot, Anthony van Geest, who work for United States aviation company National Airways Corporation, were taken in for questioning in the Angolan capital.

Although they are not in custody, they have been "requested" to remain in Luanda "until the investigation into Puri's murder has been finalised.

"We just don't understand why we are being kept here. NAC asked us to fly the four Indian businessmen to Luanda to show them the new Premier 1 executive jet."

The plane has also been held and may not leave the country.

"We didn't know these people from a bar of soap. We thought it would be a nice opportunity to do business, to show them the plane, and maybe make business contacts in Luanda.

"We were supposed to be out of here in two days' time, go to Morocco to sign documents, and fly home.

Could have shed light on murder

"We have been here for almost a week now, and we don't know why."

Conlyn said the three businessmen who accompanied Puri left Luanda immediately after they had given their statements to police after the murder.

"They are the ones who could have shed light on the murder.

"We have no argument with the government, and we just want to go home."

Conlyn said he was expecting a representative of the South African embassy in Luanda on Monday afternoon. "So far, they haven't really been helpful.

"In contrast, the Indian embassy has been doing everything in their power to help us."

The plane has also been held and is not allowed to be flown out of the country.

Meanwhile, Puri's body was flown to New Delhi via Johannesburg and Mumbai.

The Indian embassy said a post-mortem had shown he was strangled and "probably tortured".

They said police believed burglary was the motive for the murder, as some money and baggage had been removed from the banker's hotel room.