AFP
Valletta
Two men used fake weapons on Friday to hijack a Libyan plane with 117 people on board and divert it to Malta, before releasing everyone and surrendering, officials said.
The Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A320 was en route from Sabha in southern Libya to the capital Tripoli when it was taken over and forced to fly to Malta, sparking a four-hour runway standoff.
While they were initially thought to have used a real grenade and at least one pistol to stage the hijacking, it later emerged that the pair used fake weapons, a Maltese government statement said.
"Initial forensic investigations about the attempted hijack... show that the weapons used were identical replica weapons," the statement said.
"The operation to ensure that the aircraft is safe from explosives or other arms is still ongoing."
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the two men, probably of Libyan nationality, were arrested.
Libyan Foreign Minister Taher Siala from the fledgling national unity government said the two were supporters of slain dictator Moamer Qadhafi, whose death in 2011 has plunged Libya into chaos.
Siala said they wanted to set up a pro-Qadhafi political party and would ask for political asylum in Malta, although Muscat said they had not done so. The plane landed at Malta International Airport at 11:34 am, with 109 passengers, six crew and the two hijackers on board.
All flights in and out of the island were temporarily shut down while the Maltese military conducted negotiations.
The plane stood immobile for around an hour on a secondary runway surrounded by military vehicles, before a door opened and a first group of women and children were seen descending from a mobile staircase. Dozens more passengers followed minutes later. Muscat said the hijackers were told there would be no negotiations unless all passengers were set free.
After releasing all the passengers and two of the crew members, the hijackers held only the four staff"for a period of time," he said. page 13