Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
‘Pro-Gaddafi’ plane hijackers surrender
Passengers and crew safe after drama in Malta
GADDAFI supporters who hijacked a Libyan plane armed with hand grenades have surrendered after all passengers and crew were safely released.
The two men had allowed all but the plane’s pilots and other male cabin crew members to leave the aircraft yesterday, leading to fears they could be readying to take off.
However, shortly after demanding political asylum in Malta, the hijackers left the plane along with the remaining crew. They were then arrested, searched and taken into custody by Maltese armed forces.
A group of 25 women and children were initially allowed to leave after the two men took control of the aircraft as it flew over Libya, redirecting it to Malta.
Television footage showed two men being led from the aircraft in handcuffs. The prime minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, tweeted: “Hijackers surrendered, searched and taken into custody.”
The Airbus A320 had been on an internal flight in Libya yesterday morning when it was diverted to Malta, 500km north of the Libyan coast, after one man told crew he had a hand grenade.
Initial reports said one of the men had told crew he was “pro-Gaddafi” and that he was willing to free all passengers if his “demands” were met.
A Libyan television channel reported it had spoken by phone with a hijacker who described himself as head of a pro-Gaddafi party. Gaddafi was killed in an uprising in 2011, and Libya has been racked by factional violence since.
Buses were driven on to the tarmac at Malta International Airport to collect 109 passengers and some of the crew. Television footage showed no signs of struggle or alarm.
After passengers had left the plane, a man briefly appeared at the top of the steps with a green flag resembling that of Gaddafi’s now-defunct state.
Libya’s Channel TV station said one hijacker, who gave his name as Moussa Shaha, had said by phone he was the head of al-Fateh al-Jadid, or The New al-Fateh. This is the name that Gaddafi gave to September, the month he staged a coup in 1969, and the word came to signify his coming to power.
In a tweet, the TV station later quoted the hijacker as saying: “We took this measure to declare and promote our new party.”
MP Hadi al-Saghir said that Abdusalem Mrabit, a fellow member of Libya’s House of Representatives on the plane, had told him the two hijackers were in their mid-20s and were from the Tebu ethnic group in southern Libya.
Troops were positioned a few hundred metres from the plane as it stood on the tarmac. Several other flights at the airport were cancelled or diverted. A senior Libyan security official said that when the plane was still in flight yesterday morning, the pilot told the control tower at Tripoli’s Mitiga airport it had been hijacked.
“Then they lost communication with him,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The pilot tried very hard to have them land at the correct destination but they refused.”
The aircraft had been flying from Sebha in south-west Libya to Tripoli for state-owned Afriqiyah Airways, a trip that would usually take a little over two hours.
The Maltese government said its prime minister had talked of the hijacking with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj by phone, and a negotiating team was formed at the airport. Britain offered Malta help with dealing with the incident.
The last major hijacking on the island was in 1985, when Palestinians took over an Egyptair plane. Egyptian commandos stormed the aircraft and dozens of people were killed. – Reuters and Daily Mail TIDES High today ..... 12.15pm, 12.21pm Tomorrow .......... 1.04am, 1.06pm Low today .......... 6.11am, 6.56pm Tomorrow .......... 6.59am, 7.34pm Spring tides ...................... Dec 29 ......................................... Jan 12 Neap Tides ..........................Jan 5 ......................................... Jan 20 SUN/MOON Sunrise today .................. 5.33am Sunset today ................... 7.58pm Moon rises today ............. 2.26am Moon sets tomorrow 3.42pm Spring Tides: Nu + Full Moon Dec 29 Jan 12 Neap Tides: First ¼ + Last ¼ Jan 5 Jan 20