Hijacker: I wanted to see my wife and children ...
Print Edition
THE hijacker of a domestic EgyptAir flight who forced it to divert to Cyprus has been ordered by a court to be detained for eight days, authorities said yesterday.
They said the Egyptian admitted hijacking the aircraft by threatening to blow it up with a fake explosives belt.
Cyprus police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou said the suspect, who authorities had earlier identified as 59-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa, faces charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping, and threats to commit violence.
Judge Maria Loizou said she found the police request for the maximum eight-day detention necessary because of fears the suspect might flee and the fact that he admitted to the hijacking in a voluntary statement to police.
Tuesday’s drama, which began when Mustafa claimed to have explosives and forced the flight from Alexandria to Cairo to land in Cyprus, ended peacefully about six hours later. Most of the 72 passengers and crew on the Airbus A320 were released soon after the plane landed, though a handful were held for longer. All were let go before Mustafa surrendered.
Lambrianou said that after Mustafa was arrested, he told police: “What’s someone supposed to do when he hasn’t seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government won’t let him?”
An official at the general prosecutor’s office in Egypt said there was no travel ban on Mustafa. Egypt’s interior ministry said he had a long criminal record but had finished serving a one-year prison term in March last year.
After yesterday’s hearing in Larnaca, a handcuffed Mustafa flashed a “V” for victory sign from the window of a police vehicle as he was driven away from the court.
Cypriot officials had described Mustafa as “psychologically unstable” following a bizarre set of demands he made to police negotiators, including what Lambrianou said was a letter he wanted delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife in which he demanded the release of 63 dissident women imprisoned in Egypt.
Lambrianou said that 15 minutes into flight MS181, which should have taken just 30 minutes, Mustafa demanded the aircraft divert to an airport in Greece, Turkey or Cyprus. Despite an initial refusal from Cypriot authorities, the plane eventually landed in Larnaca after the pilots warned of low fuel.
The police prosecutor said witnesses saw Mustafa wearing a white belt with pockets that had cylindrical objects stuffed inside. Wire protruding from the cylinders led to what appeared to be a “push button” detonator.
Among those held was Ben Innes, a British man pictured in a photo with Mustafa that quickly made the rounds on social media.
Innes told The Sun newspaper he wanted to take “the selfie of a lifetime” while the incident was unfolding. The photo was taken by a member of the cabin crew.
“I figured if his bomb was real I’d nothing to lose anyway,” Innes, 26, told the newspaper.
Lambrianou said no explosives were found in the belt.
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