Sixteen Egyptian men who allegedly 'hijacked' a Libyan boat near Malta are to be sent back to their country today, the Egyptian embassy has confirmed.
The men reportedly hijacked the small Libyan refrigeration ship Benghazi II some 20 miles off Malta, locking the captain and two crewmen in the engine room. An AFM team persuaded them to give up the ship and transfer to a patrol boat early on Saturday. The 20-metre vessel was then escorted to Malta, where passengers and crew were interrogated by the police.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that four of the 16 Egyptians had been recommended for a visa by an auditor from Mosta.
Certified public accountant and auditor Joe Sammut wrote to the Maltese Embassy in Cairo on August 17 recommending that four men, whose names and passport numbers he supplied, should be granted a visa to enter Malta to conclude the setting up of a business here. The visas were refused.
The four men and another 12 Egyptians later allegedly hijacked the Libyan vessel.
The Benghazi II travels regularly to Malta to ship fish back to Libya.
When contacted, Egyptian Ambassador Abdel Mawgoud El Habashy told The Times that the 16 Egyptians would leave Malta today on a chartered flight and would be investigated by the authorities in Egypt in connection with their escape from the country.
"They will leave tomorrow (today) after having been treated very well by the Maltese authorities. In Egypt they will be investigated for leaving Egypt illegally," he said.
Ambassador El Habashy said the men were under the impression they were going to Italy and they claimed they asked for assistance when the Libyan crew started treating them badly following an argument. He said his co-nationals did not know they were near Malta but just asked for assistance because of the situation on the ship.
When they were brought to Malta, the police started investigating the possibility that the men were immigrants trying to enter Malta illegally especially since such vessels do not usually carry so many passengers.
Investigations revealed precisely this and the men have been held in custody until their repatriation today.
Hesham Salama Hassan Gad, Tarek Antar Salama Abouhussein and Ragheb Ibrahin Ragheb Hassan Hussein were three of the four people on board the ship who Mr Sammut had recommended for a visa to enter Malta.
Mr Sammut, a former Labour Party candidate and former party treasurer, had asked the Maltese embassy in Cairo to issue a visa to the men who were "proceeding to Malta for seven days during which they shall formalise the registration of a limited liability company in Malta and also the formalities regarding the corporate bank account".
He said his "office and the undersigned are offering their professional responsibility as regards the truthfulness of this application as also for the duration of their stay in Malta".
When contacted yesterday, Mr Sammut said he had recommended the four men after he received a request from an established client of his professional office and that his letter was not vouching for them but simply recommending they be given a visa to enter Malta.
He said he had not met any of the four Egyptians he had recommended and that after the visa was refused, he spoke to the ambassador about why the request was turned down. He then informed the men accordingly.
Soon after the request was turned down, the men left Egypt illegally and boarded the Libyan ship to reach mainland Europe.