The immediate effect of the storming of EgyptAir Flight 648 by Egyptian commandos in Malta on Nov. 24 was the death of 57 passengers and crewmen, along with two of the plane’s hijackers. Among the delayed effects: more confusion and embarrassment for the Egyptian and Maltese governments over exactly what had happened.
In Cairo last week the government of President Mubarak was questioned about certain aspects of the affair. The semiofficial newspaper al Ahram accused the country’s state-controlled television of “presenting untruths” about the “success” of the rescue mission. Opposition critics charged that Mubarak had played into the hands of the U.S. and Israel by claiming that Libya had been behind the hijacking. Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Meguid sharply denied , Libya’s claim that Egypt was considering a strike against its troublesome neighbor. He added, however, that if Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi were to “start a military or aggressive action against us,” then “that is another story.”
For Mubarak, the latest hijacking came at an awkward time. Only seven weeks earlier, the President’s response to the terrorist seizure of the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro had been criticized as indecisive, even duplicitous, and had strained Egypt’s relations with the U.S. After the hijacking crisis in Malta, Mubarak is considered less likely than ever to risk the unpopular economic reforms that the U.S. and the International Monetary Fund have been urging upon him for the past year. The IMF wants Egypt to reduce its projected budget deficit of $1.3 billion for this year by drastically cutting subsidies on food and other consumer goods. To do so could lead to riots and a serious challenge to the government. The recent wave of terrorism is expected to cost the country’s $500 milliona-year tourist industry as much as $100 million in canceled bookings.
There was also trouble on another front. Egypt at first insisted that it had rejected U.S. offers of technical assistance for the rescue effort, but it turned out that the Cairo government had learned that an American team of antiterrorist specialists was in the U.S. and could not reach Malta in time. Instead, Washington sent three American officers to Malta with the Egyptians to provide “liaison” support, and offered a planeload of antiterrorism equipment, which the Maltese refused.
Malta’s Prime Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, for his part, found himself in a dilemma over Cairo’s request that his government extradite the sole surviving hijacker, a 22-year-old Palestinian who gave his name as Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq, to Egypt. For Bonnici, going along with the Egyptians threatened Malta’s close ties to Libya. He refused, arguing that the crimes involved had taken place on Maltese soil and that Egypt does not have an extradition treaty with Malta.
The Egyptians would dearly love to question the terrorist, who is a key link to what really happened aboard the hijacked plane. Rezaq, however, is likely to stand trial in Malta. For the moment he remained in St. Luke’s Hospital under 24-hour guard by Maltese authorities.
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