EgyptAir plane hijacked, lands in Cyprus
Highjacker of the plane with 81 passengers on board was on its way to Alexandria from Cairo arrested; highjacker demand to see his divorcee who lives in Cyprus and there is a suspicion that he has an explosives belt; most of passengers released - crew members and 5 foreign nationals retained as hostages.
An EgyptAir plane with 81 passengers on board on its way to Alexandria from Cairo was highjacked Tuesday morning and landed in Larnaca, Cyprus. A Cyprus foreign ministry official says the hijacker has been arrested and that the situation is "over."
Alexandros Zenon, the permanent Secretary of the Foreign Ministry, did not immediately have more details on the arrest, which ended an hours-long drama at the Larnaca airport.
Earlier, seven more people -- presumably the last of the crew and passengers who had remained with the hijackers onboard -- were seen leaving the plane. One man climbed out the cockpit window.
The highjacker is was originally believed to be Ibrahim Samaha, a 27-year-old Egyptian. But BBC reporters managed to speak with Samaha and revealed that in fact he is one of the passengers. According to CNN, the name of the highjacker is Sayf ad-Din Mustafa. He is reportedly seeking political asylum and asked for a translator. Cypriot television reported that he must have "personal matters" in Cyprus, and that his ex-wife lives there. The British Telegraph "reported that Samaha demanded to deliver a letter to a Cypriot-Greek girl.
At about 10am, following negotiations, the Egyptian airline claimed that the highjacker released most of the passengers, retaining the crew members and four foreign citizens as hostages. However, a Cypriot source claimed that at least 15 to 20 passengers and crew members were still being held hostage. Cyprus officials claim that 56 passengers were released.
A spokeswoman for the airline said the hijacker demanded EgyptAir flight 181 to land in Cyprus. There is a suspicion that he has an explosives belt, according to a Cyrus radio.
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A Cypriot official told The Associated Press that the hijacker did not make any demands except to keep police cars away from the plane. An official at Egyptian Civil Aviation said that there were 30 Egyptians, ten Americans, eight Britons, and citizens of various other countries on the plane.
The highjacker contacted the control tower in Cyprus at 8:30am and announced that he was landing in Larnaca. A special team was sent to the airport to handle the crisis. to handle that event was catapulted to the airport.
Senior officials at the airport in Cairo, the Egyptian newspaper website quoted "Al-Yawm Al-Sab '', confirmed that half an hour after taking off lost contact with the plane.
Following the highjacking Israeli Air Force planes were deployed for fear that the plane would enter Israeli airspace. They returned to their bases soon after.
