The Love Letter Hijacker! How an Egyptian hijacked a plane to give 4-paged love letter to ex

Mustafa, the Love Letter hijacker leaving the aircraft (AFP/GettyImage)

Seif Eldin Mustafa, an Egyptian caused global panic today when he hijacked a domestic flight and forced it to land in Cyprus. The Egyptair plane left Larnaca at 22:05 local time (19:05 GMT) bound for Cairo, its original destination. It has now appeared he carried out the act with fake suicide belt. His bluff however convinced the pilot and officials who for several hours thought he was dangerous. 

It has now emerged that all those actions were to get the attention of his ex wife who was flown into Cyprus amidst the hostage negotiation.

Mustafa was very eager to deliver a four-paged love letter to the ex wife. Fortunately, the drama ended with all passengers released unhurt at Larnaca airport and Mustafa giving himself up.

Cypriot officials later declared Mustafa as "psychologically unstable". Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said Mustafa had initially asked to speak with his Cypriot ex-wife, who police brought to the airport, before making a series of "incoherent" demands.

The Love Letter Hijacker! How an Egyptian hijacked a plane to give 4-paged love letter to ex

After a standoff lasting several hours, the hijacker walked down aircraft steps and surrendered to Cypriot security forces. Shortly before that, several people were seen fleeing the aircraft, including one person, apparently a crew member, who climbed out of a cockpit window. Other passengers had left the plane after appearing to have been released.

Earlier, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades had responded to a reporter's question about whether the hijacker was motivated by romance, by laughing and saying: "Always there is a woman involved."