Hijackers from Libyan plane have surrendered: Maltese PM

VALLETTA: The hijackers of a Libyan plane that landed in Malta earlier today have left the aircraft and surrendered after releasing all the passengers and crew, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.

"Hijackers surrendered, searched and taken in custody," Muscat tweeted.

He also said a total of 109 passengers had been released from the hijacked Libyan plane which landed in Malta on Friday. Muscat said an initial group of 25 women and children released from the plane were quickly followed by nearly all of the 118 people on board the Airbus A320 jet.


The Malta airport authority said all emergency teams had been dispatched to the site of what it called an "unlawful interference" on the airport tarmac.

The plane's engines were still running today long after the aircraft landed at 11:32 AM (0402 IST).

State television TVM said the two hijackers on board had hand grenades and had threatened to explode them. All flights into Malta International Airport have been diverted.

Airport officials said the Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A320 flight from Sabha, with original destination Tripoli, had 118 people on board: Maltese Premier Joseph Muscat said that included 111 passengers, 82 men, 28 women and an infant.

Muscat had tweeted earlier that there was a "potential hijack situation" involving an internal Libyan flight that was diverted to Malta and that emergency operations were underway at the airport.

Malta's National Security Committee was coordinating the operation, a government statement said.

Muscat's office confirmed that a negotiating team is on standby awaiting instructions from the prime minister, who is in a meeting with the National Security Committee.