An Egyptian man who hijacked an airplane and diverted it to Cyprus has been deported to his home country after a two-year extradition battle.
In March 2016, Seif al-Din Mustafa flashed a fake suicide belt in an internal EgyptAir flight and forced it to land in Larnaca in Cyprus.
Nobody was hurt in the incident, and at the time Cypriot authorities said the act was not terrorism-related.
Mustafa thereafter said his motivation had been to seek asylum and highlight what he termed repression by the Egyptian government.
While Egyptian authorities routed for his extradition to Cairo in order to face justice there, Mustafa resisted, arguing that he would not face a fair trial there.
Egypt at the time cited a 1996 bilateral extradition treaty.
Last year the Cypriot Supreme Court rejected Mustafa’s appeal against the move.
Egyptian media report that he arrived in Cairo late on Saturday amid tight security.
