Hijackers who forced a Libyan plane to fly to Malta by threatening to detonate hand grenades they had smuggled on board, have allowed all passengers and most crew leave the aircraft hours after landing, but kept a few people as hostages.
The Airbus A320, operated by Libyan state-owned airline, was hijacked on internal route between the cities of Sabha and Tripoli. There were 118 passengers and crew on board, with one Libyan law-maker identified as Abdel-Salam al-Marabet reported on the passenger list.
Most were released without the hijackers demands being made public. Negotiations were underway by early afternoon, local time.
After detailing the release of 109 passengers, and most crew, Muscat then said “potentially two hijackers and some crew members still on board”. Although some recent hijackings have been carried out by pilots, numbers given by Muscat implied the two men had boarded as passengers.
The plane had initially flown towards Malta, which lies only 350 kilometres north of Tripoli, headed back towards Libya and then returned to land in Malta, an official from Afriqiyah Airways said.
The pilot had tried to persuade the hijackers to land in Libya, Reuters quoted a security source at the main airport saying, but they refused.
“The pilot reported to the control tower in Tripoli that they were being hijacked, then they lost communication with him,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
“The pilot tried very hard to have them land at the correct destination but they refused.”
All flights to and from Malta’s airport had been cancelled or diverted.
Security forces gathered near the plane, which sat on the runway with engines still running long after it landed. The Maltese president, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, appealed for calm.
