Passengers on 'hijacked' boat were Egyptian

Sixteen persons who were brought to Malta yesterday after allegedly overpowering the three-man crew of a small Libyan ship were Egyptians, according to the Egyptian media.

The 16 Egyptians, as well as the three Libyan crewmen, are being interrogated by the Maltese police.

Mohamed Abdel-Hakim, the assistant foreign minister responsible for Egyptians abroad, said that the Maltese authorities saved the group from drowning.

The AFM said yesterday that it deployed three patrol boats after the crew of the Benghazi II reported that the ship was being taken over by the passengers.

The Maltese soldiers negotiated the disembarkation of the passengers before boarding and securing the ship, which was then escorted to Malta.

The police are looking into the possibility that the passengers were illegal immigrants, especially as such vessels do not normally carry passengers. Sources said that the Benghazi II comes to Malta regularly to collect fish.

Egyptian migrants are normally repatriated within a matter of weeks.