A Cypriot state lawyer seeking the extradition of an Egyptian hijacker accused him of lying about the real reasons he took over the plane and diverted it to Cyprus in March.
Laywer Eleni Loizidou says Seif Eddin Mustafa initially told police in a sworn statement that he hijacked the plane in a bid to see his ex-wife and children in Cyprus.
Loizidou repeatedly attacked Mustafa’s credibility on Friday, saying he never told Cypriot authorities that he belonged to an anti-Egyptian government group as he now claims.
Mustafa said everything in his statement to police is wrong, insisting that it made no sense for him to hijack a plane just to see his family.
He repeated that he committed the hijacking to focus international attention on the Egyptian government’s wrongs.
