'He's not a terrorist, he's an idiot,' said Egyptian Foreign Ministry official

Hands raised in the air as he is targeted by multiple snipers, this is the moment the EgyptAir hijacker gives himself up after forcing a jet to land in Cyprus so he could deliver a message to his ex-wife.

The hijacker, identified as Seif Eldin Mustafa, had earlier been seen wearing his fake suicide belt as he posed for a selfie next to British hostage Ben Innes during the six-hour stand-off.

Mustafa hijacked the domestic EgyptAir jet after taking off from Alexandria and forcing it to re-route to Cyprus's Larnaca airport, where he took several passengers and crew hostage and demanded to see his Cypriot ex-wife.

The hostage situation on the tarmac came to a dramatic end just before 1pm as one of the pilots escaped out of a cockpit window, moments before authorities arrested Mustafa.

His arrest followed a comment by an Egyptian Foreign Ministry official, who said: 'He's not a terrorist, he's an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they aren't stupid. This guy is.'

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Seif Eldin Mustafa is seen approaching a military vehicle with his hands in the air after leaves the hijacked Egyptair Airbus A320 at Larnaca Airport

The hijacker, identified as Seif Eldin Mustafa, is seen wearing his 'suicide belt', as British passenger Ben Innes poses for a photograph alongside him

The last remaining hostages, including Briton Ben Innes, left,, were seen running over the tarmac before the hijacker gave himself up

The last remaining hostages, all non-Egyptian men, were seen running over the tarmac before the hijacker gave himself up.

Mustafa disembarked from the plane at around 14.40 local time with his hands up and threw some items on the ground, which were picked up by police and are being examined.

Alexandros Zenon, Secretary of the Cypriot Foreign Ministry, did not immediately have more details on the arrest, but added that the hijacker appeared to be 'mentally unstable'.

In the wake of his arrest, Cypriot authorities were able to determine that Mustafa's suicide belt had been a fake.

'According to security sources received from Cyprus Authorities at Larnaca International Airport, which stated that the explosive belt that the hijacker allegedly said that he was wearing, is fake,' EgyptAir said in a statement.

During the hostage situation on the tarmac, Mustafa made a series of erratic requests, including asking to meet with representatives of the European Union, and to be taken to other airports.

A picture from the tarmac shows the moment the attacker hands over a four-page letter intended for his ex-wife, as a female airport official stands with her head in her hands.

While not initially making any demands beyond his ex-wife and asylum, the hijacker then asked in his letter for the release of 63 female prisoners in Egypt, according to Cypriot TV station Sigma Live.

Mustafa is seen leaving leaves the plane before surrendering to security forces after a six-hour standoff on the tarmac at Larnaca airport

Mustafa reportedly disembarked the plane at around 14.40 local time and 'threw some items on the ground'

The remaining passengers on the hijacked EgyptAir Airbus A320 run on the tarmac after leaving the plane

This image shows the moment Seif Eldin Mustafa hands over the letter intended for his ex-wife, as a female airport official stands with her head in her hands

Sources said Mustafa added in his letter that the people of Egypt are going through hard times because of the military government, claiming it was 'arresting, jailing, and torturing people.'

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades told reporters the incident appeared to be motivated by personal reasons and 'is not terrorism-related'

Asked about reports that the hijacker had demanded to see a Cypriot woman, Anastasiades laughed and said: 'Always there is a woman.'

Police spokeswoman Nicoletta Tirimou said the letter handed to officials is written in Arabic, and is being translated, adding that the man's ex-lover had arrived at the airport and that the couple had children.

It has been reported Mustafa, said to have been a former officer in the Egyptian forces, had been married to a Cypriot woman and they had four children together. The couple lived on the island until 1994, after which he divorced her and returned to Egypt, according to Sigma Live.

Egypt's civil aviation minister Sharif Fathi, said at a press conference that there has been confusion over the identity of the hijacker, after government officials gave the man's name as Ibrahim Samaha.

This image which has been shared widely on social media reportedly shows Seif Eldin Mustafa wearing his 'suicide belt' on the hijacked EgyptAir plane

CCTV footage showing alleged hijacker Seif Eldin Mustafa passing through security at Alexandria before boarding EgyptAir MS181

A man, believed to be a member of the crew, leaves the hijacked aircraft of Egyptair from the pilot's window shortly before the hijacker was arrested

Cyprus police have evacuated a stretch of beach near the tarmac, as at least four more people were allowed to leave the plane shortly after midday, with one man seen climbing out of the cockpit

However, this was later retracted, with the Cypriot Ministry of Foreign Affairs naming him as Seif Eldin Mustafa - and the Egyptian government issuing an apology.

EgyptAir MS181, carrying 62 people, including eight Brits and ten Americans, was en-route from Alexandria to Cairo when it was hijacked, forcing it to land on Cyprus.

Negotiations with the hijacker during the morning resulted in the release of a majority of the hostages, except for the crew and four foreigners, EgyptAir said.

The hijacking of the plane, carrying 55 passengers and a crew of seven, was confirmed by EgyptAir on Twitter at 7.40am GMT.

Flight MS181 took off from the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria en route to Cairo with at least 55 passengers, including 26 foreigners, and a seven-member crew.

An official with flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 said the plane showed no immediate signs of distress. The flight between Alexandria and Cairo normally takes about 30 minutes.

The hijacker, identified as Seif Eldin Mustafa has asked negotiators at Larnaca airport for political asylum - and demanded to see his Cypriot ex-wife

Released: The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has rubbished claims that Seif Eldin Mustafa is a terrorist, saying: 'Terrorists are crazy but they aren't stupid. This guy is'

An official boards a hijacked Egyptair A320 Airbus at Larnaca Airport in, Cyprus, to negotiate with the hijacker

Passengers wait for a bus to Paphos at the Larnaca airport after being allowed to leave the airplane

The plane diverted to Cyprus after the captain, Omar Jamal, was alerted to the presence of a passenger who was wearing what appeared to be an explosive belt.

A statement from the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry statement said the foreigners on board included eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch, two Belgians, a French national, an Italian, two Greeks and one Syrian. Three other foreigners could not be identified.

The plane landed at Larnaca airport at around 8.50am (6.50am GMT), police in Cyprus said.

Cypriot government officials said that after the plane landed, the hijacker demanded that police vehicles move away from the aircraft.

Mustafa reportedly demanded he be allowed to fly to Istanbul, according to one crew member said, and is said to have asked for a refueling truck when told there was no fuel in the plane.

But such claims were refuted by airport officials, who said no other destinations had been mentioned.

Meanwhile, it has also been revealed that the co-pilot tried to calm the hijacker down, but when he was unsuccessful he returned to the cockpit, broke a window and managed to escape.

Forty of the 55 passengers were later flown back to Egypt on a special flight on Tuesday night and the remainder booked to return to their home countries on separate flights.

Hijacked: The EgyptAir was enroute to Cairo, carrying 62 people - including eight Brits and ten Americans - when it was hijacked by a man in an explosive vest

Passengers are reunited with their luggage on the tarmac after being allowed off the plane, where the crew and four hostages are reportedly still being held

Egyptian media reports that he ordered the pilot to fly to Turkey but was told they did not have enough fuel

Ibrahim Abdel Tawab Samaha was identified as the hijacker by Egyptian government spokesman Hossam al-Queish earlier on Tuesday - a statement which has now been retracted.

The wife of Samaha, a university professor from Alexandria, called Egyptian media to rubbish the claims that her husband was involved.

The woman, who identified herself as Nahla, said her husband, with the same name, is not the hijacker and that he was on his way to Cairo en route to the United States to attend a conference.

She told the private TV network ONTV that her husband had never been to Cyprus and that a photo shown international news purporting to show the hijacker is not her husband.

Questions have been raised as to how the hijacker was able to embark on the plane wearing the suicide vest.

Egyptian authorities promised to tighten airport security in the wake of the downing of a Russian Metrojet airplane in October last year, where all 224 passengers died.

The hijacker, believed to be a 27-year-old Egyptian national, continues to hold the crew and four passengers of unknown nationalities hostage on the tarmac

Emergency landing: The Egypt Air jet was en-route from Alexandria to Cairo when it was reportedly hijacked

After leaving Alexandria the plane was diverted from it's route to Cairo, and flown to Cyprus

Investigations later found that explosives had been smuggled onto the Airbus A321-231, most likely at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, which then crashed minutes after it took off from the Red Sea resort.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister David Cameron said British diplomats are on the ground and in touch with Cypriot authorities.

'The national security adviser is chairing a meeting of senior officials from across Whitehall to review the situation and to get the latest on what we know.

'There is obviously speculation about the numbers [but] at this stage we are working to establish what the facts actually are and this is one of the things they will be discussing at this meeting of officials.'