Early Friday, two Libyan passengers hijacked Afriqiyah Airways Flight 8U209 en route to the nation's capital Tripoli, and demanded to divert the plane to Europe, but landed in Malta. However, the intense ordeal was successfully negotiated and all 111 passengers and crew members onboard were safe.
Apparently, the two hijackers, named Subah Mussa and Ahmed Ali, were acting on their loyalty to late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, an autocratic leader in Libya who supported several acts of terrorism and plane hijackings during his rule. In 2011, he was killed during an uprising along with his three sons.
The flight originally took off from the airport in Sabha, but before the plane was able to land in Tripoli, the two hijackers seized control of the plane, sending all people onboard to rise in panic. The pilot then decided to divert the plane to Libya, but the hijackers refused. The pilot was able to relay as much to the Tripoli airport control before all communications were lost.
The hijackers then demanded to be taken to Rome, but they were forced to land in Malta because of shortage in fuel. They even demanded to bomb the plane if their demands were not met.
As the plane landed in the airport, they were surrounded by the Maltese Military, with the Maltese prime minister, Joseph Muscat, relaying updates about the crisis through Twitter.
For 4 hours both the Maltese and Libyan military negotiated with the hijackers for their demands and the safety of all the passengers. Eventually, an agreement was ensured and all the passesngers were able to leave the plane safely.
In a tweet, Muscat said: "The hijackers were told that in order for any discussions to be entertained, they should release all passengers first. This request was negotiated and eventually accepted and passengers were released in groups."
After the investigation, it was revealed that the weapons brought by the hijackers were only replicas. They are now both in custody and awaiting several charges.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
