EgyptAir hijacker is Egyptian national

The hijacker of an EgyptAir plane is an Egyptian national called Ibrahim Samaha, the state news agency MENA said on Tuesday.

It said the hijacker was sitting on seat K38 and gave no further details.

About 30 to 40 passengers onboard the hijacked EgyptAir plane that was forced to land in Cyprus were released, Cyprus state media reported on Tuesday.

EgyptAir said negotiations had resulted in the release of all passengers on the hijacked Egyptian plane except for five foreigners and the crew.