Anniversary of a massacre - The EgyptAir hijack in Malta
On November 23, 1985, a hijacked EgyptAir Boeing 737 passenger plane landed in Malta. It was the beginning of a 24-hour ordeal that ended in a bloody massacre with 62 people dead. Only one of the three hijackers survived and was brought to justice. Twenty-five years on, Kurt Sansone revisits the horrendous events that unfolded at Luqa airport.and seeks the recollections of a former minister, a senior police officer and a forensics expert.
It was an eerie walk down the runway for then Tourism Minister Joe Grima to the area where scores of dead people were lined up next to each other soon after Egyptian commandos stormed the hijacked plane.
“They seemed all asleep,” he says, recalling the horrific events that unfolded on that fateful November night 25 years ago at Luqa airport’s Park 4. He had been in the control tower with Prime Minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, who was directly negotiating with the hijackers to no avail. And then the botched commando attempt, which left 57 people dead in its wake.
“It was horrendous seeing dead women and children lying down in a long line with their eyes closed. It seemed as if they were asleep,” Mr Grima says.
He encountered the grim scene after having walked to the burning airplane with fellow minister Philip Muscat some time after the commando raid was over. An Air Malta garage had been transformed into a temporary morgue as requested by forensic expert and chief investigator Anthony Abela Medici. EgyptAir flight MS648 from Athens to Cairo was hijacked a day earlier, on November 23 and forced to land in Malta.
During the 24-hour ordeal before the fatal commando storming, one of the hijackers, Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq, shot six passengers at point blank range, throwing them overboard onto the tarmac in a bid to force the Maltese authorities to refuel the plane. Two died and the other four survived the ordeal only because the 0.38 calibre pistol Mr Rezaq used was defective.
However, despite Mr Rezaq’s horrific cold blooded actions, the bloodbath had yet to start. In the Egyptian commandos’ raid, 52 passengers – including pregnant women and children – suffocated from the fumes that enveloped the aircraft when the soldiers placed a bomb underneath the fuselage to break into the hold. Another five were shot by them.
According to Dr Abela Medici, two kilos of highly-explosive Semtex were used, which provided more power than was necessary to allow the commandos safe entry into the plane.
“A well-placed package containing one kilogramme of Semtex could easily destroy half of Castille,” the retired forensic expert says, adding that during the on-site investigation other unused detonators were found, clearly showing the Egyptian’s intention to blow up the plane.
The saga had ended but the massacre left 60 people dead in its wake, including two hijackers. The commandos wanted to kill the terrorists at all costs and the third only survived because he masked himself as a passenger.
Badly injured Mr Rezaq was taken to hospital and operated on immediately. It was this prompt medical intervention that probably saved him from the clutches of the armed Egyptian commandos who went looking for him at hospital.
“Armed commandos entered hospital’s casualty area looking for a third hijacker and they only missed him because he was already in the operating theatre,” Dr Abela Medici says, recalling that tense moment when he confronted the soldiers and asked them to lay down their arms.
“Doctors and nurses were reluctant to work in an environment with armed men running around. Accompanied by (Police) Inspector Anġlu Farrugia, who spoke some Arabic, we managed to persuade them to put down their weapons until we locked them up in the porter’s lodge,” Dr Abela Medici recounts.
Eventually, Mr Rezaq was identified by passengers and crew members and brought to justice. The memories of that horrible day still bring back feelings of anger for Charles Cassar, who headed the police Special Mobile Unit at the time.
The SMU was tasked to secure the airport’s perimeter and eventually even arrested some of the Egyptian commandos after the massacre when they were ready to shoot at anything that moved.
In blunt terms he says the commandos mishandled the whole affair and accuses them of irresponsibility.
“It angers me when I remember the tragedy caused by the Egyptians. Although trained by the American Delta Force, they still did what they wanted,” he says with a sense of incredulity.
The commandos were dressed in jeans and white gym shoes, he recalls, only wearing a bullet proof vest as protection, apart from the firearms.
He insists the commandos made a lot of mistakes such as switching off the floodlights just before the attack, killing the surprise element, and shooting at anyone who moved when the doors above the wings were removed.
However, the biggest mistake according to Mr Cassar was the explosion underneath the airplane. It did not make sense, he says.
“They were highly incapable and irresponsible. After the attack we had found a lot of syringes on the runway. I don’t know what they were but could it be they took something to pluck up their courage?”
A big question hanging over the botched passenger rescue attempt was the government’s reluctance to accept help from the Americans, who offered to send over the specialised Delta Force team.
Apart from Dr Mifsud Bonnici’s anti- American sentiments, the government had argued the airplane was Egyptian territory and so the Egyptians were allowed to conduct their own rescue operation.
Mr Grima refuses to pass judgement on Dr Mifsud Bonnici’s decision not to allow the Delta Force, although he admits he would have taken a different stance.
“I do not agree the Americans were left out of the operation but you have to be in the decision maker’s shoes to make that assessment. Karmenu had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders and I supported every decision he took. It is only with hindsight and only if I were to take that decision that I would have allowed the Americans to come here and perform the rescue,” Mr Grima says.
He recalls, however, Dr Mifsud Bonnici’s words in the control tower when the commandos started the attack without informing the Maltese authorities.
“At about 8 p.m. the Egyptians stormed the plane and Karmenu’s first words were ‘they fooled us’. We saw a flash and immediately we realised the operation was underway,” Mr Grima says, adding that just an hour before the attack he had accompanied Dr Mifsud Bonnici at a meeting with the people who were leading the operation. Three people, representing the Egyptians, were present for the meeting and one of them was “blonde with blue eyes”, who Mr Grima believes was not Egyptian.
“I do not know who they were but I understood they were the Egyptians managing the commando operation. Karmenu gave the impression he knew an operation was going to happen and he wanted to know the time. The man in the middle told him 9 p.m. but these people were reluctant to give us any more information on their plans,” Mr Grima says.
On the way to the meeting, he recalls seeing a couple of non-Maltese people, slouching against the walls and wearing ill-fitting headwear. They probably were Egyptian commandos.
“They had to be Egypt’s elite team but it turned out they were another team of trainees already involved in a massacre at Larnaca airport in Cyprus,” Dr Abela Medici says, recalling the testimony given by three commandos who had to be treated at hospital after sustaining serious injuries when Mr Rezaq threw a hand grenade at them during the storming.
The 24-hour hijack came to an end after a two-minute operation that brought hell to Luqa airport and put Malta on the map for the worst ever airplane massacre before the September 11 attacks 16 years later.
See also -
Rezaq’s heinous crime
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101123/local/rezaq-s-heinous-crime
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Kurt G Pace
Nov 24th 2010, 20:26
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (SFOD-D) is one of two of the U.S. government’s principle unit tasked with counterterrorist operations outside the United States .Delta Force was created by U.S. Army colonel Charles Beckwith in 1977 in direct response to numerous, well-publicized terrorist incidents that occurred in the 1970s. From its beginnings, Delta was heavily influenced by the British SAS. Accordingly, it is today organized into three operating squadrons, all of which (A, B, and C) are subdivided into small groups known as troops. It is rumored that each troop, as the case with the SAS, specializes in HALO, SCUBA, or other skill groups. These troops can each be further divided into smaller units as needed to fit mission requirements. Delta also maintains support units which handle selection and training, logistics, finance, and the unit’s medical requirements. Within this grouping is a little known, but vital technical unit which is responsible for covert eavesdropping equipment for use in hostage rescues and similar situations. The unit is headquartered in a remote section of the U.S. Army’s sprawling Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Dr Francis Saliba
Nov 24th 2010, 16:20
@VBriffa.
“What might have happened if ….” will always be an assumption, no matter who makes it. Some assumptions would be much more credible than others because they would be based on observed facts and not idle irrelevant speculations about Bin Laden and your questioned efficacy of the technology of modern warfare. In the case of the Egyptair disaster it cannot be denied that concrete offers of valuable help existed and that these offers were rejected with lamentable results.
Accepting your statement that the Egyptian Unit 777’s mission was one of “getting rid of the oppressor and not a rescue one” emphasises the stupidity of granting it unsupervised intrusion in our territory and at the same time refusing the moderating influence of expert assistance from elements of the Delta Force. Malta’s interests would have been best served by utilizing all the means on offer to ensure less catastrophic slaughter. We had no need to assist Unit 777 to achieve its mission of “getting rid of the oppressor” and for it “nowadays (to) still boast that the mission was a success to them”. Malta does not need any undeserved reputation of being actually associated with such savagery, wittingly or unwittingly.
V.Briffa
Nov 25th 2010, 09:18
You are right Dr Saliba, but in the froga we have more then a then Mlatese PM involved, I guess the most aquantable are the officers of Unit777. I have always wondered and always was a quesion to me, the explosives was brought with them, with what type of gun each soldier was armed? Lets face it if they were armed with AKMs which is the norm for the Egyptian army, these guns are not aprropriate for confined space assualts apart the stopping power of each bullet is fatal and cabable of penetrating an aircraft seat right through. Then again it is useless pointing fingers now, hope that we learned from this disaster and hope we shall never experience anything like it again as I doubt if we are capable to handle it!
Dr Francis Saliba
Nov 25th 2010, 14:09
@VBriffa.
I am not pointing fingers - I am trying to set the record straight as far as it is known to me. It is said that "historians" try to do what even God does not do, i.e., they try to alter the past. If we put on blinkers, if we refuse to profit from the lessons of history, we would be paving the way for repeating those mistakes again and again.
I agree that Unit 777 is mainly responsible for that carnage. The Maltese authorities bear a big responsibility for that unit going into action on its own initiative when the invaluable assistance of their trainers from the American Delta Force and sophistiacred anti-hijack equipment were on offer and immediately available.
I anticipate that incidents could arise that would also be out of our competence to solve without outside help. Let us hope that we have learnt our lesson and next time we will not repeat the same mistake of churlishly rejecting valuable offers of help.
V.Briffa
Nov 25th 2010, 16:49
I simply agree with you Dr Saliba. Was nice discussing with you as it least you were just one of the few that stressed a point without showing any partigan politics red or blue, western or eastern ... but just what was logic for the best of human life.
GiovDeMartino
Nov 24th 2010, 16:13
Froga ohra lejburista
l borg
Nov 24th 2010, 15:06
well an other sad end to a a terrorist attack
however while i regret the loss of life i do understand the only survivor ALI RESAQ
what life did he have? living like a rat in a refugee camp without no hope?
or if he was from the west bank or gaza or east jerusalem from the first day he was born he will have the usa M16 rifle pointed to his head by a israeli soldier where ever he goes
ALI resaq is in prison in the usa but when he will meet his maker he will have better jugdement
god jugdes from the inside not from the outside and all those responsible for putting ALI RESAQ in this sitauation will also face judgerment
finnally if someone stole my house my land killed my parents and children and kicked me out of my birthplace i do not know what i might resort to
M Psaila
Nov 24th 2010, 15:47
Take your blinkers off. He didn't go and fight his oppressors. He went and shot totally innocent people whose misfortune was to be on that flight.
Dr Francis Saliba
Nov 24th 2010, 16:43
"finnally if someone stole my house my land killed my parents and children and kicked me out of my birthplace i do not know what i might resort to" (I Borg)
Whatever blind, illegal retaliatory action you may resort to, please. PLEASE, do not carry it out on my land and do not expect any willing or unwilling help from me.
John Ungaro
Nov 24th 2010, 18:13
usa M16? Get your basic facts right before attempting to babble some form of anti-Israeli pseudo argument.
V.Briffa
Nov 25th 2010, 12:30
Eh not to confuse things but at that timeframe IDF used GALIL assualt rifles and the infamous UZIs, nowadays they use the modern and upgraded version of the M16 as the US military ... but again also the Egyptian Army use a lot of US military technology nowadays, especially after they rejected the Soviet style of military doctrine after the fiascos of both wars with Israel.
Nathan Young
Nov 24th 2010, 14:15
@Muscat Pat
Delta Force is an American unit modelled on the British SAS. It was formed by Col.Charles Beckwith after he had visited the SAS barracks and been shown the regiment's training and objectives.
Muscat Pat
Nov 24th 2010, 18:44
The Delta Force 1,2,3, was a film, full stop with heroes that only exist in Hollywood! Hundreds of innocent people were killed at Rome Airport, by terrorists. Even the twin towers were brought down in the US, and the blue eyed experts- (with a sack of prejudice against labour weighing a ton) - want to convince us that they have the magic wand against terrorism!!!
Kurt G Pace
Nov 24th 2010, 20:11
@ Muscat Pat Delta Force is not only a "hollywood film". Learn, read. Delta were formed based on the british SAS. They are special forces specialised in counter terrorism. Get your facts right Patty
P.Borg
Nov 25th 2010, 09:00
Nathan and Kurt,
You are right that Delta was based on the SAS doctrine, as are the German GSG9 and many countries Special Elite Forces but alas the Delta Forces Classified Operations have most ended much different then any SAS or GSG9 operation, though not totally their fault as most guffs were due to bad intelligence and unpredictable enemy, case in point their Mogadishu 1991 and their first mission to save the US Embassy in Iran. Maybe that is why Pat Muscat is pulling both your legs with a Hollywood Hereofiction!
He fogot tough BlackHawkDown [or book] where we saw what Delta are capable of, sacrifice themselves to save their buddy, something we Maltese I guess we are not that willing to do ... especially if he is a different colour scheme!
Dr Francis Saliba
Nov 24th 2010, 12:06
@Pule Carmel
I am afraid that your solution was impracticable. You have too high an opinion of the accuracy “of a burst fire” at a closed fuselage when the location of the terrorists and passengers was unknown. Rescuing armed forces could have had an inkling of what was the exact situation inside the hijacked aircraft by the use of electronic equipment at the disposal of the Delta Force and which was waiting the authorization of the Maltese Government to be airlifted to Malta – an authorization that never came.
D. Scerri
Nov 24th 2010, 11:56
Dan kien fjask iehor ta KMB. Haseb li kellu l-kapacitajiet perswazivi li kellu Mintoff meta "hijack" iehor kien spicca b wicc il gid...u ghaxxaqha!
Dr Francis Saliba
Nov 24th 2010, 11:37
@Vbriffa.
I do not form my opinion by seeing movies. I form that opinion on my professional medical experience in dealing with the criminal mind and experience with international intelligence agencies. I give no guarantee that the assistance of the Delta Force would have secured a painless outcome. It certainly could not have been much more costly in the loss of innocent lives caused by the use of badly sited Semtex explosions. There would have been fewer massacred victims to pray for. It is not a question of being wise after the event – the USA embassy representative on site accurately predicted the bloodbath that was going to result from the amateurish way the crisis was being handled.
Buying time, until the active involvement of experts was secured, was actually the wisest of possible choices. The “greatest incompetence” was the foolish rejection of the available assistance of experts and their up-to-date sophisticated equipment lying idle at Sigonella because of doctrinaire anti-Western prejudice. Complaining that the Egyptian commandos had fooled us, shedding tears, wearing a black tie and offering resignation could not undo the carnage.
E.Schembri
Nov 24th 2010, 12:56
Well said!
V.Briffa
Nov 24th 2010, 14:22
Dr Saliba
You are still basing facts on assuming that with sophisticated technology the kill toll would have fared better, but still it is assumption, might you are right but we can never predict such an outcome!
Technology helps in warefare, that is why Bin Laden was captured with all the sophistcation arsenal and network USA has? The facts are much different Dr Saliba! The facts remain that the mission was based on getting rid of the opressor and not a rescue one, and probably Unit 777 nowadays still boast that the mission was a success to them ...
Muscat Pat
Nov 24th 2010, 11:12
For those of you who dream of Delta Force , here is some information: The Delta Force was 1986 action film starring Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin. Twp sequels were later produced; Delat Force 2 and Delta Force 3. The film was shot in a warehouse in Jaffa, Tel-Aviv.
J Lucia
Nov 24th 2010, 09:37
Biex inkompli fuq li ghidt qabel, ftit tas snin ilu inhadem dokumentarju l-amerika fuq il- hijack tal l-egyptair f`Malta u imkien ma gie ikkritikat il-gvern malti ta dak iz-zmien, xhieda tal ftehim li kien hemm bejn malta, l-amerika u l-egittu, izda ikkritikaw bl-ikrah il-gvern malti meta inheles ali rezaq.
J.Borg
Nov 24th 2010, 11:18
Korrezjoni zghira, ftit wara t-telfa tal-Yom Kippur War l-Egittu idecidiet li tibda tikollabora mal-militar USA minflok Sovjetiku, li fil-fatt ghada sal-lum, sahansitra hadu sehem GulfWar 1bhala membri mil-Coalition Force kontra Iraq.
Dak iz-zmien kemm Israel u anke pajjizi Arab li kienu allejati ma tantx niezlet tajjeb u ghalhekk Egittu spiccat target tal-PLO u fundamentalisti Musulmani u terroristi. Irridu nifhmu li bl-attegjament taghhom a spejjez tal-passigieri l-militar Egizzjan wera li ma jcediex, u fil-fatt qatt aktar ma nhataf ajruplan tal-Egypt Air. Ir-realta kerha imma vera ...
Issa hadd ma jiehu konsiderazjoni kieku intuzaw id-Delta Force [USA] u spiccat 'fjask' bhal din il-missjoni, x'kienu jkunu l-konsegwenzi internazzjonali? X'garanzija li kull missjoni militari dejjem ha tispicca tajjeb?
Anthony Farrugia
Nov 24th 2010, 11:27
Ali Rezaq is in a US prison doing a life sentence.
J Lucia
Nov 24th 2010, 09:30
Dawk kollha li qed jahsbu li kieku dak iz-zmien thallew jitilghu fuq l- ajruplan commandos amerikani flok egizzjani kienu isalvaw iktar nies qieghdin joholmu. L-ewwel nett nisaqsi kemm hawn minnkom li jahdmu fl-avjazzjoni u hadu training fuq hijacking, ghax mid dhera hawn hafna esperti!! L-ewwel nett meta ikun hemm hijack wara il-kwinti isiru hafna sforzi diplomatici sigrieti bejn il-pajjizi involuti u probabilment dak li gie deciz kien maqbul anke ma l-amerikani. Trid tittiehed decizjoni fejn ikun hemm l-inqas imwiet, kemm fuq l- ajruplan kif ukoll barra. Qed tinsew li dak iz-zmien kien hemm tensjoni kbira bejn il-pajjizi gharab u l- israel minhabba dik li kienet imsejha bhal il-gwerra tas sitt ijiem. X'kien jigri kieku l-amerikani (allejati ta l-israel) thallew jattakkaw ajruplan egizzjan? Gwerra ohra fejn imutu eluf ta nies, iktar terrorizmu? U x'garanzija ghankom li kieku dahlu l-amerikani kienu ser isalvaw iktar nies? Biex tidhol f`ajruplan bil bibien maghluqin minn barra huwa difficli immens u Il-hijackers hafna drabi ikunu lesti li imutu "martri" ghall kawza taghhom u ma jahsbuwiex darbtejn biex jisparaw fuq min jigi quddiemhom. Insejtu ukoll li taht mintoff graw zewg hijacks ohra, tal KLM u tal Libyan Arab, fejn inheles kullhadd grazzi ghall l-sforzi diplomatici.
Dr Francis Saliba
Nov 24th 2010, 18:05
"L-ewwel nett meta ikun hemm hijack wara il-kwinti isiru hafna sforzi diplomatici sigrieti bejn il-pajjizi involuti u probabilment dak li gie deciz kien maqbul anke ma l-amerikani." (JLucia) Are you serious? There is no support for your supposition that the decision, such as it was, had been consented to by the Americans - quite the contrary, in fact. The decision was taken by the Maltese government and imposed on the Americans in an incredible exhibition of bravado. The assault on the EgyptAir aircraft was carried out against the advice of the USA embassy staff and the USA anti-hijack experts who were kept in forced isolation at their embassy, twiddling their thumbs, whilst the Egyptians slaughtered many more innocent people than the terrorists themselves. Or are you suggesting that your imaginary "secret diplomatic negotiations" were so secret that not even the USA Embassy in Malta knew about them?
Roberto Benetti
Nov 24th 2010, 09:16
Dear All,
Also for the records some years before Malta witnessed another hijack dated 25 Nov 1973.
Tragedy was averted many claim, thanks to the intervention of the Prime Minister Dom Mintoff, during the hijack at Luqa airport as passengers were released after negotiations.
* For more detailed info + photos refer to the blw link:-
http://www.flightlinemalta.com/airaccidents/PH-BUA/
Dr Francis Saliba
Nov 24th 2010, 11:52
@Robert Bennetti
If you are referring to the same incident I have in mind there is no comparison between the two hijack incidents. I believe that your case did not involve any terrorist organization. It involved a solitary fugitive member of the extended family of the Libyan leader who surrendered here on being promised his safety. It would be interesting to learn the ultimate fate of this sole refugee from Libya.
Roberto Benetti
Nov 24th 2010, 08:51
* For more detailed info + photos refer to the blw link:-
http://www.flightlinemalta.com/airaccidents/SU-AYH/
Dr Francis Saliba
Nov 24th 2010, 03:22
@ C Galea.
Please, it is you who need to be logical. The Maltese Government had every right to recruit assistance from anybody it thought fit so as to save the lives of innocent civilians being executed by terrorist murderers in our territory. It made the wrong choice when it co-operated with the Egyptian commandos and eschewed the assistance of the much more competent USA Delta Force. I would never defend such a hugely unnecessary and costly blunder on the grounds of any misplaced "patriotism" or, more accurately, loyalty to a political party. I do not believe in "my party right or wrong".
V.Briffa
Nov 24th 2010, 09:01
Dear Dr Saliba
How come you are so sure about the competence and the professionality of the Delta Force! I think you are really misleading the group with the 80s movies ... unfortunetly Delta have a history with lots of hickups, most of their missions ended in total fiasco. A simple google would have given you better feedback! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Force
Apart Unit 777 [the Egyptians] were trained by Delta veteransand we have seen their results! It was never a rescue mission ... PUNTOI E BASTA and stop pointing fingers at Maltese!
How many terrorist actions ended in disaster, many and most done in the grounds of the greatest nations, Munich 74, Locerbie and the recent September 11 ...
The greatest incopetence in this incidence was buying time but then again no one has ever dealt with fanatics that started cold blooding killing ... I guess you have to be there to judge the situation, wara kullhadd BRAVU!
Mhux ahjar tghidu talba ghal minn miet u min kien xoghol [civil servants, suldati, pulizija, firemen, medics etc etc] dak iz-zmien ghax zgur trauma ghal dejjem kienet din!
Peter Korsten
Nov 25th 2010, 11:59
"How many terrorist actions ended in disaster, many and most done in the grounds of the greatest nations, Munich 74, Locerbie and the recent September 11 ..."
The only of this list that was actually a hostage taking situation, and therefore comparable to this one, was the Munich 1972 (yes, 1972, not 1974) hostage taking by Black September. And the approach by the German authorities was so amateurish that their GSG-9 special forces unit was formed as a consequence. Lockerbie (that's how you spell it) was a bomb attack and in essence, so was September 11th.
So whatever point you're trying to make, you're not doing a very good job at it.
andrew vella
Nov 23rd 2010, 22:43
It saddens me that we have'nt matured enough to look beyond tribal division and should instead point our anger at those that committed such an atrocity while feeling pity for the innocent victims. I was in the control tower before the aircraft landed and and left the airfield after the horrendous affair ended.
To this day I still remember the explosion and the shooting which only ended when our forces stopped the murdering saviours from shooting anything in sight. The fire fighters who entered the burning aircaraft with courage and extreme dedication trying to pluck the victims from the burning hell. They were the unsung heroes of that dark night. After the debacle the reps of the Egyptian and American embassies with cheerful and smiling faces came to shake my hand which I shrugged off and walked away. I can still see K.M.B 's eyes brimming with tears.
I still remember walking off the tower shaking, crying and asking why?
How great it must be for a load of chairbourne warriors and comic book experts to rant and judge.
Let's remember the victims and united and objectively learn from our mistakes.
Pule' Carmel
Nov 23rd 2010, 20:47
Knowing that all the passengers were sitting down and the terrorists standing up, especially when Ali Rezaq was at the doorway, a burst of fire just above the seats would have killed the three terrorists.
Another idea would have been to manufacture a shearing plate(knife) mounted on top of a truck and I would have sheared the plane at the door where Rezaq stood. At that point there were no passengers. The passengers being seated and the quickness of the monouvere compared to the inertia of the plane would have not affected the passengers but only the standing terrorists. A fast follow up by trained Maltese soldiers would have downed the remaing terrified terrrorists
M Psaila
Nov 24th 2010, 13:22
you've been watching too many Rambo films I think...
c. camilleri
Nov 23rd 2010, 19:26
KMB's anti American sentiments and the Socialists blind pursuit of neutrality prevent the American officers from leading the Egyptians in this operation which resulted in the huge loss of innocent lives. Had the American officers been allowed to carry on with their business the loss of life would have been much less. The decision of KMB and his cabinet bears great responsibility for this tragedy.
Muscat Pat
Nov 23rd 2010, 19:25
I think the hijack was all Mintoff's fault. If it were not for "Freedom" from military bases, the British would have still controlled the airports, airspace and foreign policy,( as in the Independece Agreement) and therefore Mintoff and Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici would have followed the news from the TV as the rest of us..... meditate gente, meditate !
Peter Bonnici
Nov 23rd 2010, 21:27
The freedom you speak of was nothing more than the expiration of a lease. Punto e basta.
FBORG
Nov 24th 2010, 00:05
U mela, Mintoff's fault again! Pity there wasn't a par idejn sodi like Gonzi's around, he would have charmed the terrorists to surrender I think, u halluni ha nghixu tridu, kif ma tifilhux taqghu ghan ne...aktar!
A Pace
Nov 23rd 2010, 18:37
It is shocking to hear Dr Abela Medici’s final comments: ‘kellu gustifikazzjoni …’ (sic.) literally, ‘he had justification’ almost ‘he was justified’[in what he did?]. Abela Medici qualifies slightly by disagreeing with this justification, but repeats his comment. Ali Rezaq had no justification for what he did. I think Abela Medici’s comments are out of place. Show respect for the victims and their families. Ali Rezaq’s past is not enough to justify a blood bath. Murders do not justify other murders.
Dr Francis Saliba
Nov 24th 2010, 03:05
Rezaq had a motive for his cold blooded execution of innocent civilians. That could be accepted as an explanation why he broke the law as he did in such an execrable manner but never as a "justification". That course of action would condone that anyone take the law into his own hand. Such an attitude is shocking in someone frequently in the news as a court expert.
gaffarena joseph
Nov 23rd 2010, 18:35
An anniversary that Malta want to forget. If our Prime minister at that time let the americam commandos do their professional job, instead of letting the egypt commandos in a frenzy to kill ewveryone on board., Their mission as stated in newspapers was that at all cost the highjacers have to be killed. So,better if we forget that massacre.
ROBERT HENRY BUGEJA
Nov 23rd 2010, 17:06
Can anyone tell me please which party in government secretly realesed this criminal (a patriot of Palestine) from our prison?
David Buttigieg
Nov 23rd 2010, 17:32
The law applies to everybody, even scum like hijackers.
If according to our law he had to be released that's it, he had to be released, no matter what he had done!
Dr Francis Saliba
Nov 23rd 2010, 18:23
Rezaq was released through normal procedures of multiple amnesties. The only "secrecy" was misleading the American authorities when they were making specific enquiries about rumours that the terrorist's premature release was imminent. Someone was insisting that denying Rezaq's early release would have amounted to an interference with the normal course of justice to which the American retort was that the premature release of such a convidted bloodthirsty terrorist so many years before serving his whole sentence was most certainly a much more grievous interference with the course of justice! Unfortunately, individual anti-Americanism and pro-Arab sentiments were not the confined to any one political party and this antagonism soured Malta-USA relations for many years.
Karl Consiglio
Nov 23rd 2010, 16:50
As though the Labour government had not made enough of a mess, dik it-trasparenza, they soon released him secretly and let him go to Ghana.
Apart from that, whatever happened to the Egyptian Commandos? In the sense of justice. They killed a hell of a lot more folk than the terrorists
FBORG
Nov 24th 2010, 00:08
Hallooooo? Do you know who released him secretly?? It wasn't the labour government at that time, but the PN !
C Galea
Nov 23rd 2010, 16:19
I started to read some comments and cannot believe how politicized they are .
A tragedy happened and many factors contributed to it . I walked along the dead during that day and saw the bullet holes in the heads and the charred bodies of babies and pregnant mothers , lined in the Engine bay hangar !!!!
Most people are missing the fact that an aircraft on a runway is considered to be an extension of the country of origin . The Police or any other military unit must be given permission by the Captain or the President of the airplanes country to take action onboard .
How can people imagine that a Maltese Prime minister can give permission to an American military force to board an Egyptian aircraft on a Maltese runway ? , without consulting with the head of state of the country , Egypt , concerned !
Are some people so Naive ????
From my eyewitness personal opinion , the Egyptian elite team was high on drugs and was ordered to kill anyone exiting from the aircraft , to give a clear sign that terrorists will be given No Mercy if ever they hijacked an Egyptian aircraft
Peter Korsten
Nov 23rd 2010, 17:03
"Most people are missing the fact that an aircraft on a runway is considered to be an extension of the country of origin." Really? Could you give some corroboration of that claim? Because this may be the case when flying over international waters, but not when flying over a country's airspace, and most definitely not when an aeroplane is on the ground. Otherwise, according to your reasoning, tomorrow someone could board a parked Ryanair aeroplane, shoot with heavy calibre weapons at the terminal building, and the Maltese authorities wouldn't be able to do anything without permission from the Irish authorities. You don't believe that yourself, do you? An aeroplane is not an embassy, and aircrew is not diplomatic staff. So to then go and call people "naive" is making yourself look rather silly.
Dr Francis Saliba
Nov 23rd 2010, 18:00
The Egyptian comandos did what they did because of the incompetence, the presumption and the anti-American sentiment of the Maltese authorities. The comandos were given a free run not only inside the improperly called Egyptian territory of the airliner but all around the hijacked aircraft in the airport and the roads connecting the airport to St Luke Hospital! May I remind those with short memories that until the extent of the disaster was realised a premature and false report was circulating that all the passengers had been rescued!
C Galea
Nov 23rd 2010, 19:23
Mr Korsten In the case of a hijack , the rules are different, due to the fact that this was a forced landing and the passengers were still on board and had not disembarked. The flight was considered to still be in progress . Article of the Hijack convention For the purposes of this Convention, an aircraft is considered to be in flight at any time from the moment when all its external doors are closed following embarkation until the moment when any such door is opened for disembarkation. In the case of a forced landing, the flight shall be deemed to continue until the competent authorities take over the responsibility for the aircraft and for persons and property on board. http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/hague1970.html May the souls of the dead rest in Peace Amen
C Galea
Nov 23rd 2010, 19:40
Dr Saliba So according to your logic , it was not correct to let Egyptian Commandos access to the area around the Egyptian aircraft , but it would have been easy for the American elite forces to take take control of the situation without touching their feet on the runway ! Twenty five years later , armchair criticts have 20/20 vision , but being there at that moment takes guts ! I will admit that many errors were made , but it is a pity that as Maltese we do not share a common patriotic front ,but always fall in the pitiful party mudthrowing trap ! I will attempt to steer clear of this and present my honest opinions and views
Anthony Debono
Nov 23rd 2010, 21:12
The German GSG-9 rescued a hijacked Lufthansa in Mogadishu, while the Israeli IDF rescued an Air France at Entebbe, albeit with a substantial number of Jewish passengers. How does one explain these two rescue operations vis-a-vis the ongoing argument?
Past hijacks have shown that when a hijacked airplane requests to land at an airport, it is the airport's responsibility whether to authorise or not such landing. There had been requests that had been turned down and planes re-directed elsewhere. Others were given authority to land only for refuelling and take off immediately after.
So, IMHO, as in Malta's case, it is the Maltese Government's ultimate responsibility.
Peter Korsten
Nov 24th 2010, 09:03
"...until the competent authorities take over the responsibility for the aircraft and for persons and property on board."
Thanks for proving my point: until the competent authorities take over responsibility. But that does not offer a cop-out for the authorities to claim they don't have jurisdiction, and therefore responsibility.
Peter Bonnici
Nov 23rd 2010, 16:00
I cannot help but note the sheer incompetence and mediocrity with which the government tackled this situation.
Charles Cassar, Ex SMU Head : “After the attack we had found a lot of syringes on the runway. I don’t know what they were but could it be they took something to pluck up their courage?” Really? Why didn’t an SMU team bother to collect these and have them tested? or put them in storage and plant them at the next raid on some PN activist's property?
Joe Grima : “On the way to the meeting, he recalls seeing a couple of non-Maltese people, slouching against the walls and wearing ill-fitting headwear. They probably were Egyptian commandos.” …Now I suppose that unless these guys were wearing a Tutankhamun burial mask, I suppose it would have been anyone’s guess.
Or, “one of them was “blonde with blue eyes”, who Mr Grima believes was not Egyptian”..
OK Mr Grima, seriously, what gave it away?
And..“At about 8 p.m. the Egyptians stormed the plane and Karmenu’s first words were ‘they fooled us’'… Enough said !
N.Farrugia
Nov 23rd 2010, 15:59
I'm sure that although 25 years have passed since this massacre took place because of irresponsable decisions, those who took them still feel qualms when realising what big mistakes they committed.
Franco Farrugia
Nov 23rd 2010, 15:56
People such as Stephen Fenech, writing below, never fail to amaze me.
FBORG
Nov 24th 2010, 00:13
Really? I'm surprised how a simple yet truthful comment like that of Stephen Fenech amuse you, yet all those stupid senseless political comments made here by so many goes unnoticed by you? Geee, you are one easy person to amuse!
James Borg
Nov 23rd 2010, 15:42
Using the word commando is not very precise, that was a crack elite unit born in the British army during WW2 and solely deployed for attack. and kill!
Anti-terrorist units their main intension is to save hostages and eliminate the opressor. As Saiqa unit was born on that intension, many were veterans from the Israeli conflicts and these were specially trained by Western advisor [as at that time Egypt was undergoing the change in militarisation from Esatern to Western advisors]. The question still remain why they were breifed to storm the plane that way, why they persisted to go at St Lukes to kill the terrorist.
You really do not need to be a military expert that they were deployed simply to get rid of them, to the extend of sacrificing the hostages. These were [and still are] an elite group they just obey breifing and cabable to work without their advisors [these were no toy soldiers and teh breif was surely not invented in Malta]. There are many questions yet to be answered and pointing fingers and blaming ONLY the Maltese is not logical ...
David Buttigieg
Nov 23rd 2010, 15:14
With all due respect to Dr Mifsud Bonnici, the first CARDINAL mistake is for a non-trained negotiator to negotiate with confirmed murderers.
The second one was for a prime minister, in effect the highest authority to negotiate. A prime time-buying tactic is to request authorisation etc, if you are prime minister you cannot go higher to request authorisation.
Also, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici 's anti-american sentiments were obvious, and whilst we don't know what would have happened, you still send the best people available, in this case Delta force in!
Situations like the Iranian Embassy hostage crisis, Air France Flight 8969 and "Operation Feuerzauber" prove that Elite units make all the difference!
iCocker
Nov 23rd 2010, 14:57
1/
I was very young when this sad day happened but remained inprint to this day ...
Infact let's take local politics away and look inside teh international politics of the day. Egypt at the period was going into a major change from Eastern European block militarisation to a Western one, especially after their disasters with the Israeli conflicts. The said commando group were As Saiqa anti terrorist unit, specially trained by the Delta Force and US advisors and still operational. Their first action was in Cyprus and was a total disaster ending fighting with the Cypriots instead of the terrorists. In Malta they did not fare better, and tough it is said that their US advisors were held at the Embassy still such a party surely were capable to act in their own accord, these are elites and not ameateures as many claim down here, so my question remains surely these were breifed not in Malta but on their way here, the equipment was theirs so they knew what they brought and what was the exact breifed which no Maltese was given any hint about.
Adrian Cardona
Nov 23rd 2010, 14:29
And then we have people moaning that Malta has lost it's sovereignty to the EU. What was this then? Incompetent Arab commandos hell-bent on murdering everyone on the plane let loose all over the place, shooting at whatever and running amok in our hospitals. And this with the blessing of our oh-so-charming anti-american prime minister.
Dr Francis Saliba
Nov 23rd 2010, 12:52
The massacre at Luqa was a disaster waiting to happen. Malta had acquired an attraction as a sympathetic destination for aircraft hijackers.
Negotiating and wearing down desperate terrorists, mentally unbalanced by drugs, should be left to experts not in the hands of presumptuous amateurs with the intransigent mentality of "Jew b'xejn, jew xejn". Disdaining the assistance of experts and confining them inside the USA embassy away from the scene of action was the height of folly and an open invitation to the disaster that followed.
The Egyptian commandos - flippantly deprived of their Delta Force trainers and the specialized equipment waiting the go ahead to be brought in from Sigonella - could not be expected to fare any better, and in fact they did not.
The unenviable record of the costliest tragedy in the history aircraft hijacking could have been avoided.
Peter Korsten
Nov 23rd 2010, 12:47
"Apart from Dr Mifsud Bonnici’s anti- American sentiments, the government had argued the airplane was Egyptian territory and so the Egyptians were allowed to conduct their own rescue operation."
It was Egyptian property, not territory. Once the aeroplane has landed, it's in the jurisdiction of that country. Politically, it was a different story, of course, also in an international context.
Still, even in 1985, special forces like SAS, SG-9 and GIGN had a proven track record in hostage situations. Hindsight is always 20/20, but should the unthinkable happen again, and a hostage situation take place in Malta, it's to be hoped that Maltese special forces are deployed and/or those from one of out northern neighbours.
DVella
Nov 23rd 2010, 14:41
Yeah right . . . by the same reasoning I guess our Hospital was also sort of Egyptian territory because it contained Egyptian casualties and so a bunch of heavily armed foreign apes could walk around brandishing their weapons in OUR hospital . . . . (!) Nice one KMB!! . . . and after they completely botched the 'rescue' and turned it into a wholesale massacre!!
louis scicluna
Nov 23rd 2010, 12:34
Some good resulted from those bad decisions being taken then, because nobody even dared trying coming back here to land any hijacked plane on this small island in the middle of the Med.
Steve Agius
Nov 23rd 2010, 12:25
How the hell were armed Egyptian forces allowed to roam freely in Malta and enter the hospital? What a joke....pathetic that the authorities allowed that to happen, never mind the massacre......botched from beginning to end
Glenn Zammit
Nov 23rd 2010, 11:46
How on earth can someone justify these acts??? Hijackers, murderers, rapists and child abusers should be condemned to death or a lifetime in prison with no amnesties just because he was a good boy in prison.
Manwel Borg
Nov 23rd 2010, 13:38
What I don't understand is how the leading hijacker was allowed to shoot 6 people, one by one, from the plane's platform without being shot himself by a Maltese or Egyptian sniper. Surely, Rezaq must have presented an easy target since he even threw down his victims on to the tarmac.
M Psaila
Nov 23rd 2010, 11:35
So we had armed men, commmandos no less, running in our streets all the way from Luqa to the hospital in Msida! We refused help from experts but complained about the botched Egyptian attempt? We had a PM known for his lack of charisma negotiating with deadly terrorists? No further comment!
T Camilleri
Nov 23rd 2010, 13:39
M Psaila if you knew Dr KMB personally you will know that what you said is not true.
j.cassar
Nov 23rd 2010, 11:08
Part of the blame was on the then labour government which refused the help of european anti terrorist commandoes because at that time Malta was more close to Eastern Communist Europe than Western Europe.
I.Borg
Nov 23rd 2010, 11:34
Here we go again, as if YOU are so sure if Delta Force would have been assigned those poor victoms would have been saved ... check out that just few anti-terrorist elites have a good reportour onsaved hostages, in my books Delta Force have not fared much better then the Egyptians As Saiqa elites, just remind you the recent Mogadishu 1991 exploit, very well depicted in Black Hawk Down.
Unfortunetly that kind of enviornment is very unfit for fighting, and the way the Egyptians led the mission [trained by USA specialists] was something unforseen and if the main interest was to save the victoms or to get rid of the terrorists ... that is the question and shall never be answered!
Joe Camilleri
Nov 23rd 2010, 11:40
It was an EygptAir, so the Egyptians had to do it.
There was no guarantee that if somebody else stormed the plane, it was going to end better
.
J Mallia
Nov 23rd 2010, 11:45
Absolutly wrong......The Maltese Govt had no say whatsoever who intervened in the storming of the aircraft, because it was part of Egyptian jurisdiction......Taqax ghan nej.....Sur J Cassar.
M. Tabone
Nov 23rd 2010, 11:45
Ghadni niftakar lil K. Mifsud Bonnici b'dak il-lehen tieghu jghid, 'Ma niccaqilqux pulzier'. U ma min ghandu r-rih fil-qlugh titkellem hekk! Flok ma nstab kompromess jew hin aktar jew laqgha offerta ta' pajjiz iehor li kellhom aktar expertise li kien lest li jigi jaghmel 'storming' fuq l-ajruplan kompla jwebbes rasu u spiccat kif spiccat! Bl-ajruport taghna mtebba' bid-demm! Ried jilghaba tal-bully b'hajjet in-nies! Imsieken huma li flok gew salvati gew imbiccra minn dilettanti Egizzjani li l-uniku hsieb li kellhom kien li joqtlu lill-hijackers u mhux li jsalvaw kemm jistghu mill-passiggieri.
David Gatt
Nov 23rd 2010, 12:13
And a huge blame on the PN government who secretly released this terrorist from prison without informing anyone.
Stephen Fenech
Nov 23rd 2010, 12:18
Imma kif bilfors trid iddahhal il politka fuq haga hekk ukoll!! xi tkunu intom ghid?? ghandkom hdura kbira ghal partit tal labour!
j.cassar
Nov 23rd 2010, 13:07
Those who remember those years of middle east terrorism should remember how many hijacked planes were freed without bloodshed either after negotiations or experienced commandoes forces, like the germans and british. Here since we were anti western europe we prefared to accept the dilettanti instead of the professionals. All because our then foreigh minister was a communist supporter.
DVella
Nov 23rd 2010, 15:19
J Mallia, what rubbish! There is a difference between property and jurisdiction. The aircraft was on Maltese territory and Malta had absolute jurisdiction especially once the aircraft was involved in a criminal act.
Get real man, that nonsense about 'egyptian territory' is the bovine excrement touted by the incompetent government at the time . . . conicidentally by the same man that declared that 'Kuwait belonged to Iraq by right of conquest', back in 1990.
More likely this was a sorry excuse to bow to Egyptian bullying and allow those heavily armed incompetent apes to make their so-called 'rescue' attempt. The way they went about is more suggestive of an objective to eliminate the hijackers at all costs. It may have even been an attempt to cover-up information that may have been embarrassing to certain Arab states (!)
Are you so far gone as to believe that if someone hijacked a Maltese aircraft and landed it in Germany, the UK (or even Egypt for that matter) we'd be allowed to send over an AFM coontingent or the SAG to carry out the rescue? (!)