Failed Libyan Highjacker Jailed in Malta

Soko Moussa Shaha Ali, a Libyan national convicted of hijacking a plane four years ago, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday by a Maltese judge after pleading guilty as charged. Ali, along with his partner Ali Ahmed Saleh, boarded an Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A320, Flight 209 headed from Sabha, Libya to the capital, Tripoli, on December 23, 2016, and proceeded to take 109 passengers hostage with what later were revealed to be fake explosive devices. The two men, supporters of toppled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, diverted the plane to Malta and threatened to blow it up if their demands, which they never articulated, were not met. After four hours of negotiations with Maltese authorities, they were forced to surrender. Saleh, who has pleaded innocence, is still awaiting trial.