1st LD Writethru: Hijackers of Libyan flight set to appear before Maltese court on Christmas Day

The two hijackers who diverted an internal Libyan flight to a Maltese airport are set to appear before a court in Malta on Christmas Day, police source told Xinhua on Saturday.

Maltese Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar said earlier on Saturday that police had 48 hours to charge the two hijackers following their arrest on Friday afternoon.

The law in Malta states that anyone arrested needs to be either charged within 48 hours or released.

The Afriqiyah Airways was hijacked during an internal flight from Sebha to Tripoli by two men who threatened to blow it up.

It was diverted to Malta after the hijackers refused to land in Tripoli.

The hijacking came to a peaceful conclusion when the two men, identified as Ahmed Ali and Mousa Shada, gave themselves up after releasing 111 passengers and six crew members following a four-hour standoff.

The passengers of the hijacked flight return to Libya Saturday morning.

Details about the motives of the two hijackers have remained scarce.

According to Maltese authorities, it was too early to say if the two men were linked to terrorist groups.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Friday denied claims that the two men had requested political asylum.

Although the hijackers threatened to blow up the plane in mid-flight, it later emerged that the two pistols and grenade in their possession were replica weapons. Endit