Hijacked Libyan plane lands in Malta with 118 on board

Valletta: An airliner on an internal flight in Libya was hijacked and diverted to Malta where it landed today, Maltese media reported. Two hijackers had threatened to blow up the Airbus A320, which had 118 people aboard, outlets including the Times of Malta said.

The aircraft had been flying from Sebha in southwest Libya to Tripoli for state-owned Afriqiyah Airways. The tiny Mediterranean island of Malta is about 500 km (300 miles) north of the Libyan coast. Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tweeted: "Informed of potential hijack situation of a #Libya internal flight diverted to #Malta. Security and emergency operations standing by -JM".