Hijacked Afriqiyah Airways plane returns to Tripoli
The hijacked Afriqiyah Airways plane with the 111 passengers involved in the air hijack in Malta yesterday returned to Tripoli early this morning.
The passengers left Malta around 4am Saturday on board an Afriqiyah Airways airline and taken to Tripoli, their original destination.
A soldier waiting at the steps of the aircraft upon arrival at Mitiga airport was seen waving the new Libyan revolution flag in an apparent act of defiance against one of the hijackers who was seen yesterday in Malta carrying the Gaddafi regime green flag.
But a day after the drama, it is still unclear what led the hijackers to seize the plane with the use of fake weapons and divert it to Malta. Some news reports claimed the hijackers requested asylum in Malta, others that they demanded the release of Saif Gaddafi.
Armed with replica weapons, the two Libyan nationals forced an internal flight from Sebha to Tripoli to fly to Malta on Friday by threatening they would blow up the aircraft with a grenade.
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