Tag Archives: Chypre

EgyptAir’s hijacking raises new security questions over “Egyptian airport security”


The hijacker of a domestic EgyptAir flight with 63 passengers and crew aboard surrendered at an airport in Cyprus on Tuesday. No one was harmed, and the authentic-looking suicide vest he was wearing turned out to be fake.

For almost six hours Seif Eldin Mustafa held the world in suspense after hijacking an EgyptAir plane on a short flight from Alexandria to Cairo, then diverting it across the Mediterranean to Cyprus.

Shortly afterwards Mustafa emerged from the aircraft, his hands above his head. He was quickly tackled by security officers, brought to the ground and arrested. Not long after pictures surfaced apparently depicting the Egyptian standing in the plane, his shirt wide open revealing his bulky “suicide belt”. Another image showed a passenger grimacing next to him. The Cypriot government spokesman later described the explosive belt as a fake.

Officials in Nicosia and Cairo expressed relief that the siege had ended without a shot being fired or blood being shed.

The incident renewed questions about airport security in Egypt, coming just months after a Russian commercial jet was downed after departing Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh airport, apparently by a terrorist bomb.

Continue reading EgyptAir’s hijacking raises new security questions over “Egyptian airport security”

Greece, Cyprus, Egypt to speed up talks over sea boundaries// Quel avenir pour les exportations du gaz naturel en Mediterrannée de l’Est


According to Reuters, Greece, Egypt and Cyprus agreed on Wednesday to speed up talks to demarcate sea boundaries in the Eastern Mediterranean as part of efforts to turn the region into an offshore natural gas hub. Continue reading Greece, Cyprus, Egypt to speed up talks over sea boundaries// Quel avenir pour les exportations du gaz naturel en Mediterrannée de l’Est