Hijacked Egypt airliner lands in Cyprus, hijacker 'demands asylum'

A hijacker seized an Egyptian airliner on Tuesday and diverted it to Cyprus, before releasing all the passengers except four foreigners and the crew, officials and the airline said. Cyprus state radio said the man was demanding asylum in the Mediterranean island nation. Egyptian civil aviation said the hijacker had threatened to detonate an explosives belt on the EgyptAir flight which was diverted to Cyprus's southern coastal city of Larnaca.