The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement: ‘He’s not a terrorist, he’s an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they aren’t stupid. This guy is,’ according to Cairo-based journalist Ruth Michaelson.
Egyptian media reports that Samaha has dual US-Egyptian citizenship, and is a professor of veterinary medicine at Alexandria University who has taught in America.
According to an Alexandria University staff website, his full name is Ibrahim Abdel Tawab Samaha, and his specialises in health food control of milk and dairy products.
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 Samaha has since 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.
The plane diverted to Cyprus after the captain, Omar Jamal, was alerted to the presence of a passenger who was wearing an explosive belt.
Egyptian newsite Youm7 is reporting that Samaha ordered the pilot to fly to Turkey but was told they did not have enough fuel.
The plane landed at Larnaca airport at around 8.50am (6.50am GMT), police in Cyprus said.
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.
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.
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Source: Daily Mail