Men Accused Of Hijacking Libyan Plane And Diverting It To Malta Appear In Court

Two Libyan men have appeared in court in Malta on charges of hijacking a domestic Libyan flight to the Mediterranean island. Moussa Saha and Ahmed Ali each entered pleas of not guilty and wore bulletproof vests at their appearance on Sunday. They face up to life in prison if convicted.

The hours-long hijacking standoff on Friday at Valletta airport ended peacefully after negotiations.

Other charges include possession of imitation weapons, using violence against a person on a flight, holding people against their will, making threats of violence and attempting to cause financial or economic instability to a government.

Afriqiyah Airways said the hijackers wanted to go to Rome but ended up in Malta due to fuel limitations.

The passengers from the hijacked Libyan flight that was diverted to Malta left the Mediterranean island and returned home on Saturday.

Officials claimed the men flew to Malta to scure political asylum in Europe and create a new political party in honor of the late dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

After hours of negotiations, the standoff ended peacefully with the hijackers freeing all 117 people on board and walking off the plane to surrender.

The passengers were subsequently interviewed by officials.