Man held hostage in Luqa this month recounts ordeal

A 72-year-old man who earlier this month was held hostage by a knife-wielding Libyan national at Luqa yesterday recounted his 30-minute ordeal.

Meloud Ghmaa Ashor Salem was shot dead by mobile squad police on December 3 after he had taken Joseph Camilleri, an innocent bystander, as a hostage.

Mr Camilleri, of Luqa, was in Triganza Street, Luqa, watching Salem in his unsuccessful attempt to break into the family home of his estranged wife a few doors away.

There was a lot of commotion in the street as the man was remonstrating with Mr Camilleri's brother-in-law, the father of his estranged wife, because he wanted to be allowed inside the house.

"I saw this Arab-looking man, whom I did not know, with a knife in hand arguing with my brother-in-law, who managed to shut the door in his face... and then the Libyan man disappeared. Moments later he was on the roof of the house. I don't know how he got there, he must have made his way through houses at the back.

"Then he climbed down a creeper and electricity wires and landed on a balcony, and jumped into the adjacent balcony. There was a lot of commotion. There were a lot of people in the street. It was like seeing a film on television. Little did I know that within minutes, I would be one of the main actors," he said.

Mr Camilleri recalled seeing the man climbing up to the roof again by holding on to electricity wires.

"When I saw him on the roof again, I remembered that the door leading to our roof was open and I ran up to lock it so that he would not get into our house.

" But as I did so I came face to face with him on the landing. I cannot describe the strange look he had on his face. He grabbed me by the neck and told me that if I resisted or tried to escape, I would be killed.

"In a way, it was a Godsend we met on the landing. I have shotguns at home which I use for hunting and had he laid his hands on one of them, the situation would have been worse.

"I pleaded with him to let me go as I had done nothing to him. I did not even know him. Each time I tried to pull down his arm so that I could breathe, he poked my hands with the tip of the knife," Mr Camilleri said, pointing to bandaged scars on his hands.

"Each of these wounds has four or six stitches. But funnily enough, I did not feel the pain. I felt blood trickling down my hands. I know I was stabbed in my belly as I felt a sharp sensation as if someone had burnt me, but then felt nothing else. I was too terrified to think. I felt so helpless. It was a strange sensation, it felt like being drunk," he said.

Mr Camilleri said that at one point he saw a policeman coming towards them and the Libyan started holding him tightly.

"The policeman was waving his hands to show he was not armed. He asked him to hand over the knife and tried to calm him down. But he held the knife to my neck and threatened to kill me.

"I could see at least two other policemen who had guns in their hands and they were getting close, but I was dragged over the low boundary walls separating the roofs of neighbouring houses. One of the walls was slightly higher and he wanted me to climb over it but I lacked the strength. He warned me not to try to escape and stabbed me, and then lifted me over it.

"I heard him say he wanted his daughter and several times he told the police they could shoot him or send him to prison if they wanted to as he did not care.

"I tried to resist but it was pointless. I guess the blood I lost from the stab wounds was having an effect. At one point I felt I was being lifted up and I thought he was about to throw me over the wall onto the street below, so I kicked against the wall and fell.

"Then I heard two or three shots and a policeman and one of my sons, who had been watching the events from the roof of our house, came rushing over to me and took me downstairs and straight to hospital.

"They told me that as I fell face down, the man was about to stab me in the back and the police shot him at that very moment. I have just told the magistrate what I have told you. This is what I remember," he said.

Mr Camilleri had four stab wounds and had to have part of his intestines removed. He also had several bruises as he was repeatedly hit on the head with the butt of the knife as he was used as a human shield, as well as several scars which also required stitches. He has now been sent home.

What crossed his mind during the ordeal. Did he pray?

The man rolls his clear blue eyes: "I was so terrified. I was helpless. Utterly helpless. It is hard to describe the sensation. People ask you why didn't you do this or that. The truth is that you don't think. You act instinctively. Had I not kicked against the wall and fell down, he would probably have thrown me onto the street two storeys below. And I would not be speaking to you now," he said.