Egypt keen to extradite man who hijacked an EgyptAir plane

Update 2.00pm:

Prosecutors in Egypt have reportedly asked Cyprus to extradite a man arrested after passenger jet was hijacked.

The 59-year-old forced an EgyptAir flight to be diverted to Larnaca - it later emerged he was wearing a fake suicide belt.

He has appeared in court this morning and been told he will remain in custody in Cyprus.

The court heard he carried out the hijacking so he could see his estranged wife and children.

Update 10.16am:

The Egyptian man accused of hijacking a plane and forcing it to land in Cyprus yesterday has been remanded in custody.

58-year-old, Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa appeared in court this morning, however he has not faced any formal charges yet.

He could potentially be prosecuted for hijacking and kidnapping or reckless and threatening behaviour.

But Cyprus authorities have said Mr Mostafa is "psychologically unstable" and the case was not "terrorism-related".

The accused is believed to have asked for a letter to be delivered to his ex-wife during the hijacking.

Update 7.04am:

An Egyptian man who hijacked a plane is due to appear in court in Cyprus later today.

The hijacker forced the EgyptAir flight to land in Cyprus, but later surrendered to police following a six-hour stand-off.

All passengers and crew were released from the plane unharmed.

One thing we have learnt from the Cyprus hijack is that most news sites don't know what a selfie means pic.twitter.com/tHOBjaXeCj

— St_Hill (@St_Hill) March 30, 2016

Cypriot Police have confirmed that the explosive belt the hijacker claimed to be wearing was fake.

But it's raised more questions about Egypt's aeroplane safety record - after a jet was blown up there in October.

Aviation security expert Philip Baum thinks current checks are too broad: “We treat everybody exactly the same.

“We put everybody through the same metal detector, we put everybody through the same bag search.

“We need to focus on negative intent not on what people have in their bags or carrying on their person.”