EgyptAir hijacker fights extradition to Egypt, fears govt
A hijacker who threatened to blow up an EgyptAir plane told the flight crew that he was doing so because he opposes Egypt's military-backed government while his extradition could endanger him because authorities in his homeland don't respect human rights, his lawyer said Monday.
Lawyer Robertos Brahimis told a Cypriot court that both the pilot and co-pilot of the Airbus A320 testified in documents supporting Egypt's request to extradite Seif Eddin Mustafa that he threatened to destroy the plane with a fake suicide belt because "he opposed the Egyptian government's policies."
The disclosure challenges suggestions that the March 29 hijack was due to a domestic dispute with Mustafa's Cypriot ex-wife.
