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7 people still on board of hijacked EgyptAir plane

Source: Xinhua | March 29, 2016, Tuesday | Online Edition

THREE passengers and four crew members are still on board a hijacked EgyptAir plane, Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy said on Tuesday.

EgyptAir previously said that negotiations with the hijacker resulted in "the release of the passengers, except for the crew and four foreigners."

"The captain, a co-pilot, an air hostess and a security guard remained on board, along with three passengers," Sherif Fathy told a press conference Tuesday.

EgyptAir flight No. 181 was on a domestic flight from the coastal city of Alexandria to capital Cairo. It carried 55 passengers, Fathy said.

The plane that was hijacked and diverted to Cyprus landed in Larnaca Airport at 07:50 (local time), he added.

The hijacker had not made any concrete demands so far, said the minister.

The hijacker asked for diverting the flight to either Istanbul or Cyprus, the minister added, refusing to reveal the nationalities of the passengers held on the plane.

"We know the identities of the held passengers, but we couldn't reveal the nationalities for security reasons," he said.

The Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry said earlier that the hijacker had threatened to detonate an explosives belt on the Airbus A-320.

"It isn't clear if the hijacker is wearing a real or fake explosive belt, but we have to take his words seriously for preserving the lives of the hijacked people," the minister added.

"We have to deal with the hijacker's threats as real for safety of passengers."

Fathy added that negotiations with the kidnapper are still going on.

The presidency spokesperson denied earlier reports about the identifying the hijacker as Ibrahim Samaha, who is a professor in the U.S. Atlanta University.

"The real name of the hijacker is Seif al-Din Moustafa," said Alaa Yousseif, spokesman for the presidency.

Asked about the airport security measures, the minister said the measures are always being checked.

The plane was carrying 21 foreigners -- eight Americans, four Dutch citizens, four Britons and a French citizen and four Greek, -- in addition to a Syrian national, an Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry statement said.

"Egypt is sending a plane to Cyprus to pick up released passengers at 12:30 p.m. (local time)," the minister said.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades told reporters the incident appeared to be personally motivated.

"The hijacking is not terror-related," he told a news conference.

Early Tuesday, EgyptAir tweeted: "Our Flight MS181 is officially hijacked."

The Cyprus Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement that the flight "was hijacked and diverted to Larnaca international airport." The motive of the hijacking was not clear.

However, sources with the Egyptian Aviation Ministry told state TV that the hijacker asked the Cyrus authorities for political asylum.

On October 31 last year, a Russian airliner was downed over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board.

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