EgyptAir Hijacking Ends In Arrest: Did Lovesick Man Hijack Plane To Reunite With Ex-Wife?
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The hijacking of an EgyptAir flight that was diverted to Cyprus has ended with all passengers on board released and safe. The suspected hijacker is now in police custody.
Now, the authorities are left to investigate why a man, identified as Seif El Din Mustafa, hijacked the plane on its way to Cairo from Alexandria with threats to detonate a suicide belt. NBC News cited a high-level official in reporting that Mustafa used the hijacking to demand a meeting with his ex-wife. She is from Cyprus.
“It’s all to do with a woman,” Cypriot leader Martin Schulz told reporters before the EgyptAir hijacking had ended, according to the Guardian.
He said Mustafa was desperate to reunite with his ex-wife.
Other reports suggest that he had political motivations. According to the New York Times and BBC News, state media in Cyprus reported that he’d given negotiators a letter that demanded the release of female prisoners from jails in Egypt.
Egyptair airliner is hijacked after leaving Alexandria and lands at Larnaca airport in Cyprus, reports say https://t.co/sfiKVP4KXf
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) March 29, 2016
The EgyptAir Flight MS181 was flying from Alexandria to Cairo when, 30 minutes after takeoff, Mustafa allegedly ordered the plane to land in Turkey or Cyprus. He allegedly said he was wearing a suicide belt and threatened to detonate it on board.
An hour later, the EgyptAir plane landed in the Cypriot port city of Larnaca, and dozens of women and children were filmed fleeing the aircraft. The EgyptAir flight carried 56 passengers, seven crew, and one security officer.
“We had no idea what was going one,” said passenger Ibrahim Samaha. “After a while we realized the altitude was getting higher, then we knew we were heading to Cyprus. At first the crew told us there was a problem with the plane and only later did we know it was hijacked.”
After most of the passengers were released, four foreign passengers and seven crew remained on board, and the hijacking continued as a standoff on the tarmac.
Six hours after most of the EgyptAir passengers were released, the hijacking seemed to be worsening as news crews were ordered to retreat, nearby businesses were evacuated, and security forces and snipers fell into position.
Toward the end of the hijacking, a person emerged from a cockpit window, dangling from a rope. Two more people emerged from stairs parked next to the jet. Gradually, all of the hostages were released and seen leaving the aircraft.
Shortly afterward, a man left the EgyptAir plane to walk across the tarmac with hands raised. Two counter-terrorism officers laid him on the ground, searched him, and took him away. And then came the announcement from the Cypriot Foreign Ministry at 2:41 p.m., stating, “It’s over.”
EgyptAir flight hijacked and forced to land at airport in Cyprus https://t.co/iFxGaOKFUc pic.twitter.com/jyX0DpkDaL
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 29, 2016
Preliminary and unconfirmed reports suggest that the hijacking may not have been terrorism, but the actions of a lovesick man. He reportedly spent the first three hours of the tarmac standoff demanding that officials arrange a meeting with his ex-wife, a Cypriot.
Negotiators were discussing that possibility with Mustafa, who’s believed to be an Egyptian national, during the standoff. The ex-wife reportedly arrived at the airport at one point, and the hijacker threw a letter to her from the EgyptAir plane.
Unconfirmed reports also suggest the hijacking was an attempt to free Egyptian prisoners, since his demands seemed to change, said Egypt’s prime minister, Sherif Ismail.
“At some moments he asked to meet with a representative of the European Union and at other points he asked to go to another airport but there was nothing specific,” he said.
It’s still not clear that the hijacker was wearing explosives as threatened.
[Photo by Petros Karadjias/AP]
