The Libyan air force Mirage fighters which were held in Malta for a year after their pilots defected during the uprising against Col Gaddafi are set to return to Malta for the airshow at the end of September.

Their participation will be at the invitation of the Malta Aviation Society, which organises the airshow.

Prior to the uprising, the Libyan Air Force had 16 Mirage F-1AD, 16 Mirage F-1ED and six Mirage F-1BD aircraft. All aircraft were grounded because of serviceability problems.  12 were contracted for refurbishment, of which only four were returned to service, with two of them having been flown to Malta by the defecting pilots.

They were flown back to Libya amid celebrations after Col Gaddafi's removal. Reports by international aviation websites that one of the Mirages subsequently crashed turned out to be false.   

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