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Passengers, suspected hijacker leave plane

Cyprus president reacts to EgyptAir hostage crisis

A British passenger whose EgyptAir flight was hijacked by a man wearing what appeared to be a real suicide explosive vest worked up the gumption to take a photograph with his would-be killer.An EgyptAir plane flying from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus on Tuesday but the passengers and crew were freed unharmed and the hijacker, whose motives remained a mystery, was arrested after giving himself up.Eighty-one people, including 21 foreigners and 15 crew, had been on board the Airbus 320 flight when it took off, Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement.One of the foreigners, Ben Innes, found humor in the incident, posing for a photograph with the hijacker. Innes appeared to be enjoying himself, bearing a grin as a pair of sunglasses were propped up on his head.The image of Innes and the hijacker became a worldwide sensation after going viral on Twitter.“Only Ben could get a selfie!" his sister tweeted, adding the hashtags #proud and #EgyptAir.Conflicting theories emerged about the hijacker's motives, with Cypriot officials saying early on the incident did not appear related to terrorism but the Cypriot state broadcaster saying he had demanded the release of women prisoners in Egypt.After the aircraft landed at Larnaca airport, negotiations began and everyone onboard was freed except three passengers and four crew, Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fethy said.Soon after his comments, Cypriot television footage showed several people leaving the plane via the stairs and another man climbing out of the cockpit window and running off.The hijacker then surrendered to authorities."It’s over," the Cypriot foreign ministry said in a tweet.Speaking to reporters after the crisis ended, Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said the hijacker was an Egyptian national but that his motives remained unclear."At some moments he asked to meet with a representative of the European Union and at other points he asked to go to another airport but there was nothing specific," he said, adding that the man would now be questioned to ascertain his motives.Cypriot foreign ministry official Alexandros Zenon told reporters during the crisis that the hijacker appeared to be "unstable."Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry said the plane's pilot, Omar al-Gammal, had informed authorities that he was threatened by a passenger who claimed to be wearing a suicide explosives belt and forced him to divert the plane to Larnaca.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.Fethy, the Egyptian minister, said authorities suspected the suicide belt was not genuine but treated the incident as serious to ensure the safety of all those on board."Our passengers are all well and the crew is all well... We cannot say this was a terrorist act... he was not a professional," Fethy told reporters after the incident.In the midst of the crisis, witnesses said the hijacker had thrown a letter on the apron in Larnaca, written in Arabic, asking that it be delivered to his ex-wife, who is Cypriot.But the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) said the hijacker had asked for the release of women prisoners in Egypt, suggesting a political motive.EgyptAir also delayed a New York-bound flight from Cairo onto which some passengers of the hijacked plane had been due to connect. Fethy said it was delayed partly due to a technical issue but partly as a precaution.The plane remained on the tarmac at Larnaca throughout the morning while Cypriot security forces took up positions around the scene.Reuters contributed to this report.