Security Forces Arrest Alleged Hijacker EgyptAir After Airport Standoff In Cyprus

A hijacker who commanded a plane from Egypt to Cyprus was arrested on Tuesday 

All passengers are safe aircraft.

CAIRO: A hijacker who commanded a plane from Egypt to Cyprus was arrested on Tuesday after a nearly six-hour standoff triggered by unclear reasons, officials said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries among the 55 passengers and crew on the flight of EgyptAir, but details of the incident were not yet known in the midst of a series of fast-moving events that included apparently a hostage seen sliding down a rope from a cabin window.

The foreign minister of Cyprus then posted a message on Twitter saying the hijacker was arrested. In Cairo, officials from EgyptAir also declared an end to the hijacking - which began during a domestic flight in Egypt and left only a handful of the passengers and crew on board after the hijacker freed dozens of people after landing in Larnaca.

Earlier, the president of Cyprus said the hijacking was "not something that has to do with terrorism", but the reason was not entirely clear.

Cyprus state broadcaster said the hijacker was demanding the release of political prisoners in Egypt. Before, however, a Cyprus government spokesman speculated that the hijacker was driven by a possible relationship failed after asking to deliver a letter from a woman who lives in the eastern Mediterranean island.

There were no reports of injuries among those released or on board EgyptAir flight MS 181, four crew members and at least three passengers, the airline said. It was not immediately clear why the passengers were not released with the others.

The plane was flying from the Egyptian port north of the capital Cairo, Alexandria. Instead, the plane was forced to head north to Larnaca, Cyprus after being "officially hijacked," said a Twitter message from EgyptAir.

Sherif Fathy, Egypt aviation minister, told a press conference hours after the hijacking that the man was holding seven hostages, including the captain, his assistant, a flight attendant, a security officer and three passengers. More details about the identities or nationalities of passengers have received.

He said that several parties were tried to negotiate with the hijacker. He angrily refused to answer a question about security issues in Egyptian airports.

Fathy said the pilot and hijackers had a discussion about whether to fly to Turkey or Cyprus, and decided on a member of the European Union and Cyprus - about 300 miles northeast - apparently because the plane did not have enough fuel to reach Turkey. He said it was unclear if the hijacker was actually wearing an explosives belt, as reported initially. "It could be a fake," he said.

Passengers were seen disembarking calm waves of Airbus in Larnaca airport carrying luggage. Some appeared to be dressed in uniforms of the crew.

A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority of Egypt told The Washington Post had 56 people aboard, including 30 Egyptians, 11 Italians, eight Americans, two Belgians, two Greek, a French national and a Syrian. He refused to comment further.

EgyptAir initially said there were 88 passengers on the plane.

The hijacker was initially named as Egyptian Ibrahim Samaha, a professor of Egyptian university. But Samaha told BBC Arabic that was not the hijacker, but merely a passenger on the plane.

"We did not know what was going on," he told the BBC. "We got on board the plane and were surprised that the crew took all our passports, which is unusual for a domestic flight. After a while we realized that the altitude is increasing. So we knew we were heading to Cyprus. At initially, the crew told us there was a problem with the plane, and only later that I knew it was hijacked. "

A man believed to be the hijacker of EgyptAir Airbus A320, leaves plane before surrendering to security forces at the airport in Larnaca.

Cyprus media reported that the hijacker wanted to see his ex-wife, who lives in Larnaca. The woman is said to be on his way to the airport.

If the abductor was able to board the flight with a belt of explosives or other weapons, it would be another major embarrassment to the Egyptian government and highlight the persistent concerns among aviation authorities and analysts of the lack of security in the country airports.

Militant attacks in Egypt have increased in recent years, leading to tourists and foreign investors as the government struggles to revive the economy.

US-backed military Egypt is fighting an affiliated Islamic State in the north of the Sinai Peninsula in the country. In October, a Russian passenger plane was shot down over the Sinai by a bomb on board, an attack that was claimed by the Islamic State.

The hijackings were more common, but greater security and passenger screening has drastically reduced the number of aircraft in flight requisitioned.

In February 2014, a man falsely claiming to have a bomb demanded an aircraft Pegasus Airlines - traveling from Kharkiv, Ukraine to Istanbul - be diverted to Sochi, Russia, then the celebration of the Olympic Winter Games. The pilot landed in Istanbul, saying the hijacker who were in Sochi. The man, who was apparently intoxicated, was arrested and no passengers or crew were injured.

Less than two weeks later, the co-pilot of a flight of Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa to Rome took command of the aircraft and landed in Geneva, demanding asylum. He was arrested and there were no injuries. A co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, also took control of Germanwings Flight 9525 in March 2015 before the plane crashed in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.