THE hijack of an Air Malta airliner bound for Istanbul with 81 people on board ended peacefully yesterday when two Turks surrendered at Cologne airport, releasing their hostages unharmed, police said.
One of the hijackers, with what turned out to be fake explosives strapped to his chest, had demanded the release of the Turkish gunman, Mehmet Ali Agca, serving a life sentence in Italy for trying to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981.
German police quickly established contact with one of the men through a Turkish speaking interpreter and persuaded him to hand over what appeared to be the fuse of the fake explosive device to the pilot about three hours after landing. The men left the plane with their arms above their heads accompanied by plain clothes police officers.