EgyptAir Hijacker Wants Cyprus Asylum

The man accused of hijacking an EgyptAir airplane in March has apparently started the process of claiming asylum in the Mediterranean city of Cyprus.

Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa hijacked the EgyptAir plane on March 29th as the plane was making its way from Alexandria to Cairo in Egypt.

Mostafa then used what is now believed to be a fake suicide bomb belt to convince the captain of the aircraft to re-route the airplane to Larnaca airport in Cyprus, to which the captain obliged.

However, after letting Egyptian women and children and then a number of other people off the plane, Mostafa finally surrendered himself to the authorities and said that he wanted to claim asylum in Cyprus.

Mostafa is currently busy being extradited to Egypt where he will stand trial and could possibly face the death sentenced if convicted.

In response to this, Mostafa is fighting his extradition to Egypt by applying for asylum to stay on Cyprus.

An official who wanted to remain anonymous confirmed the news of the simultaneous extradition process and asylum application to the press:

“…[sic] The suspect has asked for asylum and this procedure will run in parallel with the court hearing on extradition,” the source said.

However, in the meantime, Cyprus has already approved a request by Cairo to extradite Mostafa back to Egypt.

Mostafa is arguing that he will possibly face the death penalty if he gets extradited to Egypt and thus wants to stay in Cyprus.

Apparently, he wants Cairo to state in writing that he will not face the death penalty at a trial in Egypt.

Mostafa remains in custody and, according to various sources, is believed to be ‘psychologically unstable’.

Various sources have said that Mostafa did what he did out of desperation to see his Cypriot ex-wife and children.