Page 9 - aruba-today-24dec-2016

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WORLD NEWS Saturday 24 december 2016

Malta plane hijacking ends peacefully; 2 Libyans surrender

RAMI MUSA when the plane reached seph Muscat told report- disembark in groups. Muscat announced that
STEPHEN CALLEJA a cruising altitude of 36,000 ers the hijackers wanted In a series of tweets, Mus- the hijacking was over in
Associated Press feet (10,980 meters), pilot negotiators to board the cat said 65 people were a tweet at 3:44 p.m., say-
VALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Ali Milad was told the hi- plane after it landed but his allowed to leave, then an- ing the two hijackers sur-
Two Libyan hijackers di- jackers were armed and government refused and other 44 were freed, includ- rendered unconditionally.
verted a domestic flight to They were searched, taken
the Mediterranean island into custody and being
of Malta on Friday to de- questioned, he said.
mand asylum in Europe The airline said 117 people,
and create a new political including six crew mem-
party in honor of the late bers, had been on board
dictator Moammar Gad- the hijacked plane. Twen-
hafi, officials said. After ty-five of the passengers
hours of negotiations, the were artists, writers and in-
standoff ended peacefully tellectuals from southern
with the hijackers freeing Libya heading to a cultural
all 117 people on board forum in Tripoli.
and walking off the plane Muscat said the two hijack-
to surrender. ers had one hand grenade
The hijacked Airbus A320 and one pistol on them
flight, operated by Afriqi- and a second pistol was
yah Airways, was traveling found on the plane when it
from the Libyan oasis city of was searched by Maltese
Sabha to the coastal city soldiers.
of Tripoli when it was divert- In a later statement, the
ed to Malta and landed at government said initial
11:34 a.m. local time. An Afriqiyah Airways plane stands on the tarmac at Malta International airport as an unidentified forensic investigations
Malta state television TVM man waves a flag, Friday, Dec. 23, 2016. Hijackers diverted the Libyan commercial plane to Malta showed that the weapons
on Friday and threatened to blow it up with hand grenades, Maltese authorities and state media
said the two hijackers had said. used by the hijackers were
hand grenades and had (TVM via AP) identical “replica” weap-
threatened to explode ons — imitation weapons
them. All flights to Malta wanted to land in Rome. insisted that all passengers ing some crew, all coming that may not actually fire
International Airport were Milad suggested landing and crew be released. out without hand luggage. but are difficult to distin-
immediately diverted and in Tripoli, the hijackers re- The hijackers then allowed Finally the two hijackers guish visually from real
emergency teams includ- fused, and a decision was the plane’s doors to open walked off the plane with guns.
ing negotiators were sent made to land in Malta due at 1:44 p.m. and a stair- the final crew members, Police said it was most like-
to the airport tarmac. to fuel limitations. case was brought over so including the pilot and co- ly the two hijackers would
Afriqiyah Airways said Maltese Prime Minister Jo- freed passengers could pilot. be arraigned Saturday. q

Australia: Christmas Day bomb plot foiled, 5 detained

ROD McGUIRK taurant precinct, and St. attack, which prompted in- Hamza Abbas, 21, Ahmed Police believed the threat
Associated Press Paul’s Cathedral, an Angli- creases in security around Mohamed, 24, and Abdul- had been neutralized
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) can church, Victoria state the world. Two of seven lah Chaarani, 26, did not through the raids on five
— Police in Australia have Police Chief Commissioner people initially arrested in enter pleas or apply for Melbourne premises, he
detained five men sus- Graham Ashton said. raids Thursday night and Fri- bail. They will appear in said.
pected of planning a series He said they had been day morning in Melbourne court next on April 28. “Islamist terrorism is a glob-
of Christmas Day attacks plotting the attack for three — a 26-year-old man and Police said the other two al challenge that affects
using explosives, knives and weeks. Prime Minister Mal- a 20-year-old woman — detained will also be us all. But we must not be
a gun in the heart of the colm Turnbull said it was were released without be- charged with preparing a cowed by the terrorists,”
country’s second-largest one of the most substan- ing charged, police said. terrorist attack. Turnbull told reporters.
city, officials said Friday. tial plots that have been Five men between the ages Four of the suspects were “We will continue to go
The suspects were inspired disrupted over the last sev- 21 and 26 remained in cus- born in Australia and the about our lives as we al-
by the Islamic State group eral years. The arrests came tody. Three appeared in a fifth was Egyptian-born with ways have. What these
and planned attacks on after a truck smashed into Melbourne court charged Egyptian and Australian criminals seek to do is to kill.
Melbourne’s iconic Flinders a Christmas market in Berlin with preparing or plan- citizenship. But they also seek to fright-
Street train station, neigh- on Monday, killing 12 peo- ning a terrorist attack. They The suspects were prepar- en us, to cow us into aban-
boring Federation Square, ple. A manhunt is underway each face a life sentence if ing to use explosives, knives doning our Australian way
a fashionable bar and res- for the person behind that convicted. and a gun, Ashton said. of life,” he added.q