EgyptAir plane hijacker arrested at Cyprus airport

The man who hijacked an EgyptAir plane flying between Alexandria and Cairo and ordered the pilot to divert to Larnaca, in Cyprus, has been arrested. A man emerged from the aircraft and then walked across the tarmac with his hands up to two awaiting counter-terrorism police officers, an AFP correspondent reported, saying they laid him on the ground and searched him for about two minutes before taking him away.An official at Egypt’s ministry of foreign affairs ruled out a terrorist motive, saying: “He’s not a terrorist, he’s an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they aren’t stupid. This guy is.”

Earlier seven more people, thought to be the last of the crew and passengers who had remained with the hijacker on board, were seen leaving the plane. One man climbed out of the cockpit window.

Flight MS181 had 55 passengers on board when it was seized, Egyptian authorities said. All passengers and crew appeared to have been freed from the aircraft safely.

The Cyprus foreign ministry identified the hijacker as Seif Eldin Mustafa. There was confusion over his motivation: the Egyptian prime minister, Sherif Ismail, said the man was an Egyptian national who had asked to meet European Union officials or to fly on to another airport.

Ismail told reporters that authorities would question the hijacker to ascertain his true motives, which remained a mystery.

Egypt’s civil aviation minister, Sharif Fathi, said he had not made any concrete demands, though according to reports and the Cyprus president, the hijacking is connected to a woman, believed to be the hijacker’s estranged wife, who reportedly arrived at the airport. The man is believed to have thrown a letter to her from the plane.

There were also unconfirmed reports that he had demanded the release of prisoners in Egypt. Egyptian authorities said the hijacker had threatened to detonate an explosive belt but did not know whether the belt was real or fake.

Addressing reporters with the visiting European parliament president, Martin Schulz, the Cypriot leader, Nicos Anastasiades, ruled out terrorism, saying instead that that the hijacking had been instigated by a man bent on reuniting with his former wife.

“It’s all to do with a woman,” he said. “We are doing everything to release the hostages.”

Cyprus police said the control tower was contacted at 8.30am (5.30am GMT) and the plane was given permission to land at 8.50am.