May 29, 2002	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 16,1423

ROME, May 28: Italian fighter jets intercepted on Tuesday a Sudanese aircraft not far from the Italian air base where Nato leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin were holding a summit, military officials said.

The fighters were ordered out to track the aircraft after the pilot did not respond to air traffic controllers.

The plane, which was not headed towards the summit venue, had a radio breakdown, the officials said.

The plane was escorted to French air space and French air traffic controllers were notified of the equipment failure.

Heavy security was in place for the summit of 20 heads of states or governments in Pratica di Mare, with about a dozen aircraft and helicopters on standby as well as 15,000 security forces.

The measures in place provided for shooting down a plane that could be hijacked and headed towards the summit venue.—AFP