Love, not terrorism, behind EgyptAir hijacking

A man hijacked an EgyptAir passenger plane Tuesday and forced it to divert to Cyprus demanding to see his ex-wife, sparking a dramatic airport standoff that ended peacefully after six hours.

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Hijacker surrenders after Cyprus airport standoff

Larnaca, Cyprus, AFP – A man hijacked an EgyptAir passenger plane Tuesday and forced it to divert to Cyprus demanding to see his ex-wife, sparking a dramatic airport standoff that ended peacefully after six hours.

A handout picture provided by the Egyptian ministry of interior shows a screen grab of CCTV footage reportedly showing the hijacker of the EgyptAir flight diverted to Cyprus, going through airport security checks at Egypt's Alexandria airport on March 29, 2016. AFP PHOTO / HO /EGYPTIAN MINISTRY OF INTERIOR"

The hijacker, an Egyptian described as "unstable", had claimed to have explosives strapped to his waist but none were discovered after he gave himself up at Larnaca airport and was arrested.

Most of the 55 passengers on the plane – originally travelling from Alexandria to Cairo – were quickly released after it had landed.

But some escaped only minutes before the hijacker surrendered, including one uniformed man who was seen clambering out of a cockpit window and dropping to the ground.

"From the beginning it was determined that this was not a case of terrorism," Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said, adding the man was "psychologically unstable".
Egypt identified the man as 58-year-old Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa.

Kasoulides said the man demanded to deliver a letter to his Cypriot ex-wife, with whom he was said to have children.

She was brought to the airport and spoke to the man, the minister said, without elaborating.

He also delivered a rambling letter in Arabic with demands which included meeting with a European Union representative and for the release of women prisoners in Egypt.

"There was no logical consistency for the demands to be taken seriously," Kasoulides said.

Asked about the hijacker's demands to see his wife, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades laughed and said: "Always there is a woman."

Passengers of an EgyptAir Airbus A-320 which was hijacked to Cypress arrive at Cairo international airport on March 29, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED

The EgyptAir plane landed in Larnaca at 8:50 am (0550 GMT), after the hijacker had contacted the control tower 20 minutes earlier to demand the diversion.

Egyptian civil aviation officials said there were 21 foreigners among the passengers, and that the hijacker had demanded the plane land in either Turkey or Cyprus.

Officials said that seven people, including several passengers, had remained on board until shortly before the man surrendered.

The hijacker emerged from the aircraft, walked across the tarmac and raised his hands to two waiting counter-terrorism officers. They laid him on the ground and searched him before taking him away.

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