EgyptAir plane hijacked to Cyprus, most passengers freed

LARNACA: A man thought to be strapped with explosives hijacked an Egyptian plane on a flight betweenAlexandria and Cairo on Tuesday and forced it to land in Cyprus, Egyptian officials said.

After the EgyptAir plane landed at Larnaca airport, the hijacker released all the people onboard except five foreign passengers and the crew, EgyptAir said.

About 60 people, including seven crew, had been onboard, Egyptian and Cypriot officials said.

"The negotiations with the hijacker have resulted in the release of all the plane passengers with the exception of the crew and five foreigners," the airline said in a statement.

Egypt´s Civil Aviation Ministry said the plane´s pilot, Omar al-Gammal, had informed authorities that he was threatened by a passenger wearing a suicide explosives belt and forced him to land in Larnaca.

A Cyprus Foreign Ministry official said he could not confirm the man was rigged with explosives. The hijacking occurred in Cyprus´s flight information region. The plane was an Airbus 320, Egypt´s aviation ministry said.

Eyptian state media named the hijacker as Ibrahim Samaha, an Egyptian, but gave no other details about him. Passengers on the plane included eight Britons and 10 Americans, three security sources at Alexandria airport said.

Israel scrambled warplanes in its airspace as a precaution in response to the hijacking, according to an Israeli military source. Egypt´s vital tourism industry was already reeling from the crash of a Russian passenger plane in the Sinai in late October.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said it was brought down by a terrorist attack.

Hijacker may have personal motives- Cyprus broadcaster

Cyprus broadcasting (CYBC) reported that the hijacker of an EgyptAir plane that was forced to land in Cyprus on Tuesday may have personal motives.
The hijacker had an ex-wife in Cyprus, CYBC said.

Witnesses said the hijacker threw a letter on the apron of the airport in Larnaca, written in Arabic, asking that it be delivered to his ex-wife, who is Cypriot.