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By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 19 January 2017:
The two men who hijacked the Afriqiyah Airways flight from Tamenhint to Tripoli on 23 December wanted to go to Rome not Malta, a Maltese court was told today.
The plane’s captain told the court that the hijackers seemed interested only in leaving Libya. They had initially demanded the aircraft fly to Rome, but when the pilot said there was not enough fuel and suggested flying to Malta instead, they agreed.
“We tried to agree on a plan of action. We did not know if there were more than two hijackers. We eventually decided to fly to Malta because we did not have fuel to go to Rome. We told the hijackers and they accepted,” the captain said.
The two men, Moussa Shaha Ali Sako and Ali Ahmed Lano Saleh, used a replica hand grenade and pistols to hoodwink the crew into diverting the flight. They later claimed they were political activist and were with for a new political party that wanted to restore the Qaddafi regime.
An air hostess testified that she joked with one of the hijackers in an attempt to keep him relaxed. They had initially told her: “Do not land the flight in Tripoli, but to take it Rome. If you refuse, I have a bomb” She also described him as “stupid” when, at one point, he suggested they took a picture together.
The court heard that midway through the flight from Sebha, a crewmember handed a note to the pilots from the hijackers ordering the flight be diverted to Rome. When the co-pilot was sent to investigate he was told the plane would be blown up if demands were not met.
Upon landing the captain received a deluge of calls from journalists asking if the hijackers were from the so-called Islamic State (IS). However, he told the court they did not seem to be radical extremists and were more intent on leaving Libya.
He added that the crew had not informed the passengers of the threat to prevent panic ensuing. They only discovered the truth when the plane landed in Malta. Following a three-hour standoff at the airport there the 116 passengers and crew were released before the hijackers gave themselves up.
