The aircraft, carrying seven crew and 111 passengers,[3] had taken off from Sabha International Airport at 08:10 local time and was due to land at Tripoli at 09:20.[4] The two hijackers threatened to blow up the aircraft with hand grenades, according to Malta state television.[2] One hijacker declared himself to be "pro-Gaddafi" and that he would release all passengers, but not the crew, if his unknown demands were accepted.[2] The pilots had tried to land in Libya, but the hijackers refused their request.[2] The aircraft was forced to land at Malta International Airport at 11:32 am local time.[1] The aircraft's engines were still running after it was surrounded by the Maltese military.[5] One hijacker was reported to have appeared at the aircraft door waving a large green flag similar to the Libyan flag under Gaddafi.[6] He then put the flag down and returned inside.[6]
Response
Negotiating teams were placed on standby and Maltese military units arrived at the airport.[2] Upon landing, at least 25 passengers had been released by the two hijackers, and negotiations were held.[5] Following the release of all passengers and crew, the hijackers, Suhah Mussa and Ahmed Ali, surrendered to the Maltese authorities and were taken into custody.[7] The weapons they had brandished were later found to be replicas.[8]
Aftermath
On 2 December 2020, Suhah Mussa was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment and fined €9,990 after he pleaded guilty to the charges against him.[9]
Film
On the day of the hijacking, the Malta airport was being used to film scenes for the movie Entebbe about the 1976 hijacking of Air France Flight 139 and the Israeli-conducted Operation Entebbe in Uganda, which had resulted in the release of most of the passengers and the deaths of the hostage-takers. Scenes of the real-life hostages exiting the Afriqiyah plane were filmed, edited and inserted in the movie, and producer Melvin Rotherberg qualified the event as a "blessing from the sky on a day of bad acting." Some of the passengers were subsequently cast as extras in the movie.[10]
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