Cyprus extradites Egyptian hijacker

An Egyptian man who hijacked a domestic flight in 2016 and ordered it to land in Cyprus has been extradited to his homeland, after giving up a protracted legal fight.

Seif Eddin Mustafa was transferred to Egyptian custody and flown back to Egypt late on Saturday, where prosecutors are investigating the incident. The extradition went ahead after he dropped a three-year court battle to avoid extradition on the grounds that he could face torture or an unfair trial in Egypt.

He hijacked the Egyptair flight in March 2016 using a fake suicide belt and diverted it to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

The 62-year-old told a Cypriot court he was trying to expose what he called the “fascist regime” of Egyptian president Abdelfattah el-sissi and to help secure the release of 63 female dissidents being held in Egyptian prisons.

Egyptian authorities gave assurances that Mustafa would “face legal proceedings commensurate with international standards”.