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| A MAN BELIEVED TO BE THE HIJACKER IS SEEN LEAVING THE AIRCRAFT |
A hijacking that diverted a domestic Egyptian flight to Cyprus has ended with all hostages released and the hijacker surrendering.
Airline officials later said they had been told by Cypriot authorities that the belt was fake.
The hijacker's motives remain unclear but the Cypriot president said the incident was not terrorism-related.
No-one was injured in the hijacking, Cypriot government spokesman Nikos Christodulides tweeted.
How the hijacking unfolded
After a morning of tension, the hijacker was seen walking down aircraft steps at Larnaca airport with his hands raised.
Some reports said the Egyptian man - named by Cypriot officials
as Seif Eldin Mustafa - wanted to talk to his estranged Cypriot wife
who lives on the Mediterranean island, while others said he was seeking
the release of female prisoners in Egypt.
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At least five more people have been released from a hijacked EgyptAir plane, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.
The five, wearing what appeared to be crew uniforms, could be seen descending from the aircraft.
A hijacker seized an Egyptian airliner
on Tuesday and diverted it to Cyprus, triggering a hostage crisis at
Larnaca airport on the south coast, Cypriot police said.
Egyptian civil aviation said the hijacker had threatened to detonate an explosives belt.
The hijacker contacted the control tower
at 8:30 am (0530 GMT) and the plane was given permission to land at
8:50 am, Cyprus police said.
A crisis team was deployed to the airport, the main entry point for tourists to the Mediterranean resort island.
The hijacker made no immediate demands and later allowed Egyptian passengers to disembark, Cypriot state television reported.
The Egypt Air plane was headed from the
Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria to Cairo with 81 passengers on
board when it was seized, Egyptian civil aviation said.
The airline tweeted: “Our Flight MS181 is officially hijacked, we’ll publish an official statement now.”
After negotiations with the hijacker who
commandeered the domestic flight to Larnaca airport, everyone on board
except four foreign passengers and the crew was released.
Larnaca is no stranger to hostage crises. Several hijacked planes were diverted to the airport in the 1970s and 1980s.
SOURCE: AFP / BBC
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