118 safe after Libyan plane hijackers surrender
Two hijackers of a Libyan passenger plane, purportedly supporters of the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, surrendered Friday after diverting the Afriqiyah Airways jetliner from the north African country to the island of Malta, authorities said. All 118 people aboard left the plane safely.
Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Twitter: "Hijackers surrendered, searched and taken into custody." Muscat said the plane hijackers had one pistol and one hand grenade.
Muscat said there were 111 passengers aboard — 82 males, 28 females and one infant. The Times of Malta said it also had seven crew members.
The flight took off from Tamhent Airport in the Libyan town of Sabha for the capital Tripoli, a domestic flight that normally takes just over an hour, Malta Today reported.
Ali Milad, the pilot, told Libya Channel TV network that initially the hijackers asked him to head to Rome. He identified the two hijackers as Moussa Shaha and Ahmed Ali, Libyans who other officials said were in their 20s.
The pilot said the men were seeking political asylum in Europe and wanted to set up a political party called “the New Fateh.” Fateh is a reference to Gadhafi, who led Fateh revolution after his coup in 1969.
After many of the hostages left the plane Friday afternoon, someone, apparently a hijacker, waved the old green Libyan flag from the plane’s doorway.
Muscat earlier said he had spoken to his Libyan counterpart, Fayez Serraj, about the unfolding incident. Serraj heads the so-called Presidency Council and National Unity Government, both brokered by the United Nations as part of peace efforts to heal the country’s rift and end divisions.
Libya has been in a largely lawless state since Gadhafi was ousted and killed in 2011 after 42 years of unchallenged rule.