Two young Swedish women yesterday described a horrific ordeal of assault and rape at the hands of Libyan men on a beach in the early hours of Sunday.

Last night, Nader Abdulaziz Elgerian and Hasan Mohammed Ahmed, both 26, were charged under arrest and accused of illegally holding Sandra Vikstrom and Anny Teresia, known as Teresia Williams. They were further charged with violent indecent assault, theft and causing slight injuries to the women.

Mr Elgerian, from Tripoli, was accused of raping Ms Vikstrom and threatening a Somali man at the police headquarters.

Mr Ahmed, from Buslin, was charged with attempting to rape Ms Vikstrom and with being an accomplice in her rape.

Ms Vikstrom, a student nurse, told the court she arrived in Malta on Tuesday and was staying at La Valette Hotel in Paceville.

She and her friend Teresia went out at 11 p.m. on Saturday night and visited a few pubs, ending up at Kube bar where they stayed till about 3.30 or 4 a.m.

As they left, four men started talking to them. Ms Vikstrom said they had had a lot to drink and were unable to take care of themselves. The men told them they could reach their hotel by walking along the beach. Magistrate Silvio Meli repeatedly asked the witness if she needed any help and told her the court would see to it that she was given all the protection she needed and that she should feel safe.

Ms Vikstrom continued that at one point she sat down on the beach waiting for her friend to catch up and the man she was walking with started kissing and fondling her. She told him to stop but then she felt she blacked out and when she came to there were more men around her.

One of them, whom she recognised in court as Mr Ahmed from his curly hair and dark complexion, sat on her chest and held her arms down while another raped her.

She said she screamed a lot and tried to fight back, biting Mr Ahmed in the arm, but he punched her and placed his hand over her mouth and nose so that she could hardly breathe.

"I thought if I lay still he'd let me breathe," she told the court.

Then she saw the men running away and as she looked for her trousers she saw a man on top of her friend trying to rape her. But her friend was resisting him.

Following the assault, the two walked as fast as they could to get to a road where they met a policeman and an ambulance was called. She said she recalled seeing three men lying face down on the ground with their hands behind their heads but at the time did not realise the police had arrested some of the alleged aggressors.

Ms Williams identified Mr Elgerian as one of the men who was speaking to them outside Cube and who accompanied them to the beach.

She said she later saw him raping Ms Vikstrom and tried to protect her friend but a man floored her and covered her mouth and nose with his hand and then lifted her skirt. She did not know what happened next.

She then saw two men on top of Ms Vikstrom, one of whom had curly hair and whom she recognised in the court room, and another who had escorted them from the Kube bar.

Inspectors Paul Vassallo, Carlo Ellul and Raymond Aquilina prosecuted. Lawyer Leon Bencini assisted the accused.

The police last night said they were still looking for other Libyans in connection with the case.

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