Maltese Interior Minister Carmelo Abela said Saturday the passengers, who were on board a hijacked Libyan flight that was diverted to Malta, have left the country earlier on the day and are returning home, Radio Free Europe reported.

The crew and passengers are all safe and sound on their way back to Tripoli, chief of staff of the office of Malta's prime minister Keith Schembri tweeted.

Two Libyan hijackers had diverted the domestic flight to Malta on Friday to seek asylum in Europe and create a new political party in honor of former Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, Maltese officials said.

The standoff ended peacefully after two hours of negotiations.The hijackers freed all 117 people on board and walked off the plane to surrender. They are expected to face charges later on the day.

The state-owned Afriqiyah Airways plane took off from the southern Libyan city of Sabha and was due to land in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, before it was diverted to Malta.

Source: MENA