CAIRO (Sputnik) — The EgyptAir hijacker, identified as Ibrahim Samaha, has both Egyptian and US citizenship, media reported Tuesday, citing Egypt's officials.
Earlier in the day, the EgyptAir passenger flight MS181 en route from Egypt’s Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked by a single male suicide bomber with at least 60 people on board and subsequently landed in Cyprus' Larnaca airport.
Egyptian presidential spokesman Alaa Yousuf told CNN that Samaha was an Egyptian-US dual citizen.
The Egyptian media claim Samaha could have hijacked the aircraft due to personal reasons, as his ex-wife is reportedly a citizen of Cyprus.
According to Nicosia's police, the hijacker remains on board with 5 crew members and 7 passengers.
