Hijacking ‘to do with a woman’ not terrorism: Cyprus president

Cairo/Larnaca: Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades told the mediapersons that the EgyptAir flight hijack was not a terrorist incident but “it’s all to do with a woman,” according to the Guardian.

“The hijacking is not terrorism-related,” said the island’s President.

The hijacker is reportedly a professor at Alexandria University and he is ‘not a terrorist but an idiot,’ Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said.

The hijacker wants to talk to his estranged Cypriot ex-wife, Marina Parashkou, who is now on the way to the airport.

An EgyptAir plane on a domestic flight was hijacked on Tuesday and later landed in Cyprus, where all but four foreign passengers and the crew were released, media reports said.

The Airbus 320 was on its way from Alexandria to capital Cairo when a passenger claiming to be armed with explosives took charge of the aircraft and forced it to fly to Larnaca, Egyptian authorities said.

Shortly after the landing, almost all the passengers were let off and they boarded buses to reach a safe location, Al Ahram newspaper reported.