Hijackers Of Libyan Afriqiyah Airways Jet Had Fake Guns And Grenade

The pair who seized the plane used replica pistols, says Malta’s PM, as all the passengers are released unharmed.

Two men who hijacked an aircraft and threatened to blow it up had a grenade and guns that were both fake. The pair surrendered peacefully after several hours of negotiations at Malta International Airport, where the internal Libyan flight had been diverted. The hijackers, named as Libyans Suhah Mussa and Ahmed Ali, gave themselves up after allowing passengers and then some crew off the Afriqiyah Airways jet. The pair, believed to be aged in their twenties, later left the plane with the rest of the crew.

Maltese soldiers found a second pistol when they searched the aircraft.

The Maltese Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, said their weapons had been examined and were found to be replicas. The hijackers were arrested by Maltese forces

The Airbus A320, with 111 passengers and six crew on board, was travelling from the Libyan city of Sabha to the capital Tripoli when it was forced to land in Malta on Friday morning.

The hijackers initially wanted the plane to be flown to Rome but it ended up in Malta due to fuel limitations.

All flights to the airport were immediately diverted.

Mr Muscat said his government had told the hijackers to release all the passengers before there could be any talks. He said: “This request was negotiated and eventually accepted, and passengers were released in consecutive groups.”

Some of the passengers leave the jet after being released

In a series of tweets, Mr Muscat said 65 people had been allowed to leave, then another 44, including some crew, followed by the hijackers and the final crew members. The passengers were being questioned by police and will then return to Libya on another Afriqiyah Airways jet, while the hijackers are being interrogated.

At one point during the hijacking a man, believed to be one of the perpetrators, briefly appeared with a plain green flag at the top of steps outside the aircraft. A man, believed to be one of the hijackers, pictured with a Gaddafi-era Libyan flag. The flag was thought to be of Libya when it was ruled by former dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

The plane’s pilot Ali Milad told Libyan TV the hijackers had been seeking political asylum in Europe and wanted to set up a political party called “the New Fateh”. But the Maltese prime minister said the pair had not issued any demands.

Fateh is a reference to Gaddafi, who led the Fateh revolution after his coup in 1969 and was killed in 2011 after being overthrown in an uprising.