EgyptAir Hijacking Ends Peacefully

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Key Takeaways:

  • A passenger, Seif El Din Mustafa, threatened an EgyptAir flight with a claimed explosive belt, forcing the Alexandria-to-Cairo flight to divert to Cyprus.
  • Cypriot authorities arrested Mustafa upon landing, and all passengers and crew were unharmed.
  • His motivation appeared to be personal, possibly related to his ex-wife, rather than political, and it is unclear if he possessed actual explosives.
  • The incident has prompted concerns regarding airport security in Egypt.
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Authorities in Cyprus have arrested a man who threatened an EgyptAir flight on Tuesday, and nobody was hurt. The passenger, Seif El Din Mustafa, who boarded in Alexandria, Egypt, told crew members he was wearing an explosive belt and demanded that the crew divert the Cairo-bound A320 to land in Cyprus. Mustafa was “unstable,” Cyprus official Homer Mavrommatis told CNN. “He kept on changing his mind and asking for different things.” His motivation seems to not have been political, but may have been related to his ex-wife. The incident has raised concerns about airport security in Egypt, according to CNN, but it’s not clear if the man had any actual explosives.

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