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MT 30 March 2016

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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 30 MARCH 2016 News EgyptAir hijacker had fake suicide belt Hostage drama ends after EgyptAir plane is diverted to Cyprus with man wearing a suicide belt that turned out to be fake AN Egyptian hijacker who forced a domestic f light to land in Cy- prus used a fake suicide belt. His motives remain unclear but the Cypriot President said the in- cident was not terrorism-related. No one was hurt in the incident after the man surrendered to au- thorities after a five-hour stand- off. The EgyptAir domestic f light from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked yesterday morning and forced to divert to the island. Egypt's civil aviation ministry said the pilot of the plane, Omar al-Gammal, was threatened by a passenger strapped with explo- sives, but it later said the hijacker's suicide belt was fake. Photographs shown on Egyptian state television showed a middle- aged man on a plane wearing glasses and displaying a white belt with bulging pockets and protruding wires. Conf licting theories emerged about the hijacker's motives. Cyprus President Nicos Ana- stasiades said the man seemed to have a personal motive and the incident was "not related to ter- rorism". Cyprus state TV said he wanted to contact his ex-wife, who is Greek-Cypriot and lives in Larnaca. Earlier reports said the man demanded the release of women prisoners in Egypt. Egypt's civil aviation minister, Sharif Fathi, said he had not made any concrete demands, though according to reports and the Cy- prus President, the hijacking is connected to a woman, believed to be the hijacker's estranged wife, who reportedly arrived at the airport. The man is believed to have thrown a letter to her from the plane. EgyptAir said f light 181 had 81 people on board, including a crew of seven. Most were released shortly after landing in Cyprus. Cyprus, the EU member state nearest to the Middle East, im- mediately declared a state of emergency, with the ministers of defence, foreign affairs and transport all being dispatched to the airport within minutes of the plane making its forced landing. Airport authorities said all sched- uled f lights into Cyprus were be- ing diverted to the island's second international airport at Paphos. The hijacking is likely to bring to the fore again the question of security at Egyptian airports, five months after a Russian aircraft crashed over the Sinai peninsula minutes after it took off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el- Sheikh. All 224 people on board were killed in the crash. Russia later said an explosive device brought down the aircraft and the ex- tremist Islamic State group said it downed the plane. A man climbs out of the cockpit window of the hijacked Egyptair Airbus A320 at Larnaca. Inset: A photograph purporting to be of the alleged hijacker (left)

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