An EgyptAir plane was hijacked Tuesday morning and forced to land in Cyprus, Egyptian officials said. The plane was set for the short flight from Alexandria to Cairo, about 180 kilometers away. It landed instead at Larnaca airport in Cyprus, about 540 kilometers northeast. The hijacker, who held the plane and crew, threatened to blow up the plane, officials said. However, news sources said the hijacker said he wanted to speak to his former wife, who lives in Cyprus. The hijacker, identified as Seif el-Din Mustafa, later admitted that he did not have explosives. The president of Cyprus told local media a “domestic issue” was behind the hijacking. The hijacker's former wife was brought by local police to the airport to meet with him. After the plane landed in Cyprus, video showed passengers walking down the plane stairs to a bus on the ground at Larnaca International Airport. Cyprus public television reported that the hijacker was a 27-year-old Egyptian. He asked for political asylum, the newspaper said.
