Five things you need to know about the hijacking of the Egyptian jet

1. What happened?

On the morning of March 29th, in the sky of Egypt, a civilian EgyptAir A320 airliner was hijacked whilst flying from Alexandria to Cairo. The terrorist demanded that the pilot turn the plane towards Turkey. The hijacker was a citizen of Egypt, Saif al-Din Mustafa. After landing the plane in Cyprus, negotiations resulted in the release of all crew members. So far the exact information on the criminal’s motives has not been disclosed. He stated that he had a suicide bomber's belt. Upon closer inspection, the "explosive device" was a hoax.

2. Contradictory information

From the outset, the Egyptian media and official authorities of Egypt and Cyprus reported conflicting information about the attack. According to the airline company, the jet was carrying 81 people. According to the Minister of Civil Aviation of Egypt - 55 people.
During the course of the events, the identity of the perpetrator kept changing. First, he was identified as Ibrahim Samaha - whether Egyptian, or an American professor. Later it was reported that his name was Saif al-Din Mustafa. According to some sources, he was a former officer in the Egyptian army; others declared that he served several terms in prison.

3. Why Turkey?

The Government of Cyprus stated that the offender is likely to be a mentally ill person. Also, some media agencies suggested that the kidnapping of the airplane was prompted by the terrorist’s personal problems, which involve an ex-wife of the alleged criminal in Cyprus. Nevertheless, it is revealing that the terrorist first demanded to fly the plane to Turkey, where he planned to ask for political asylum. After the plane landed in Cyprus, the offender demanded that the plane be refueled, and the flight be continued to Turkey. According to the Israeli intelligence resource Debka, the terrorist allegedly negotiated the release of prisoners in Egypt in exchange for the release of the crew. If so, political motives for the crime, as well as why the offender tried to enter Turkey becomes clear. Turkey protects the "Muslim Brotherhood”, and the military leadership of Egypt launched a prosecution against the political force that organized the 2011 color revolution in the country.

4. Who is the beneficiary?

An act of terrorism has once again called into question the possibility of the resumption of flights between Russia and Egypt. After November 2015, a Russian civilian aircraft was blown up over Sinai by ISIS terrorists. As a result, all flights were suspended. Egypt's tourist industry suffered significant losses because Russian tourists were an important source of income. Consequently, Egypt has become economically dependent on the role of Saudi Arabia, which supports the military regime in defiance of Qatar.

As a result of this terrorist attack, the Saudis and Qataris may both be the main beneficiaries. The first country hooked the Egyptian leadership by proposing financial assistance, as the Russian money will not go back into the economy in the near future. The second one hopes, through the strengthening of terrorist activities, to destabilize the country and overthrow the al-Sisi government.

5. Qatari terrorism against Egypt

Qatar's strategy of intensifying terrorist attacks is working. The Egyptian authorities have not interpreted this act of terrorism as a crazy stunt. Simultaneously, a plane flying to the United States was postponed, and three suspicious persons were removed. On the eve of the incident, the Egyptian authorities turned to the US for help in combating ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula. This is an unprecedented step for the military leadership of Egypt, which had previously preferred to solve such problems by themselves, which indicates that the situation in the Sinai is critical. Terrorists that are active in Sinai and have sworn allegiance to ISIS belong to the organization Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the radical wing of the same "Muslim Brotherhood", which is supported by Qatar and Turkey.