Libyan Mirage head home

The two Libyan Mirage fighter jets, which have been here for a year after their pilots defected during the Libyan revolution, filled the Maltese skies with their thunder as they took off and flew back home yesterday. Piloted by Colonel Ali al-Rabti and Colonel Abdullah al-Salheen, who had refused to bomb fellow citizens last February, the jets graced Malta with a low-level flypast before heading south. The jets had been due to return on Tuesday but the pilots’ inactivity meant they could not renew a special licence to fly in bad weather.

Photos by AP Screener Ray Abela