Boeing airplane (illustration)
Boeing airplane (illustration)Thinkstock

Egypt on Wednesday asked Cyprus to extradite a man accused of hijacking an EgyptAir flight and diverting it to Larnaca where he was arrested a day earlier, AFP reported.

The state prosecutor's office said in a statement that Egyptian Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa, 58, should be remanded into its custody for questioning under a 1996 bilateral extradition treaty.

A Larnaca judge on Wednesday ordered that Mostafa be held in custody for eight days, in his first court appearance after Tuesday's hijacking, according to the news agency.

Mostafa took control of the plane in an attempt to meet with his estranged ex-wife, who lives in Cyprus.

Upon the plane’s landing in Cyprus’ Larnaca airport, several passengers were released but the pilot, three foreign passengers and some crew members remained onboard for some time while negotiations with the Mustafa were ongoing.

All those remaining on board the plane eventually departed and the hijacker was arrested.

The plane landed in Cairo safely on Tuesday night after spending several hours in Cyprus after the hijacking incident.

Cypriot officials said that an alleged “suicide belt” which Mostafa was carried was a fake and no explosives were found on board the plane.