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A hijacker who took dozens of hostages aboard a commercial jet over what appeared to be a "personal" matter involving a woman was arrested after an hours-long standoff Tuesday, authorities said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Cyprus confirmed around 7:45 a.m. ET that all of the passengers and crew had been safely freed.

The drama unfolded aboard EgyptAir Flight MS181, which was on a domestic flight en route from Alexandria to Cairo. A hijacker who claimed to have an explosive belt ordered the plane to diverted to either Turkey or Cyprus, according to officials.

The Airbus A320 flew to the Cypriot port city of Larnaca and landed at around 7:50 a.m. local time (12:50 a.m. ET), where negotiations got underway, EgyptAir said.

The majority of the passengers were soon released, with just four foreigners and seven crew members left on board.

Image: Passengers disembark from the plane after their negotiated release
 
Passengers disembark the plane after their negotiated release. GEORGE MICHAEL / AFP - Getty Images

The hijacker spent the first three hours of the standoff demanding to speak to his Cypriot ex-wife or give her a letter, Cyprus government spokesman Nikos Christodoulides told NBC News.

"Our people they were talking to him all the time in order to keep him busy and allow people to come out," Christodoulides added, saying that negotiators asked that more hostages be released in return for each of his requests.

The hijacker — who was identified by the Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Seif Eldin Mustafa — then shifted his demands.

"He asked for asylum, he wanted to talk with someone from the European Union ... It seems that he was an unstable personality," the spokesman explained.

 See Passengers Released From Hijacked EgyptAir Flight0:48

Christodoulides said that once the passengers and crew had been freed the hijacker was alone in the plane "so he didn't have any other option than to come out."

Live footage from the scene shortly before the arrest was announced showed the pilot dangling from a rope out of the cockpit window and dropping to the ground. Two people were later seen coming down stairs parked next to the jet.

There were conflicting reports about how many people were on board — with some officials saying it was carrying 55 and others suggesting that figure was 81.

The passenger list included eight Americans, according to Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry.

GALLERY: Hijacker Diverts Jet, Seizes Hostages

Authorities were examining whether the hijacker did actually have any explosives but as of now it appears the "explosives" were fake, Christodoulides added.

Earlier, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said the hijacking was "not something that has to do with terrorism."

The same high-level source close to the operation had suggested early on that the hijacker's motive seemed to be about a "personal" matter involving a woman. The hijacker is believed to be an Egyptian national.

 FROM NOV. 19: ISIS photo shows purported bomb from Russian plane hidden in a soda can 2:29

Egypt's Minister of Civil Aviation Sherif Fathy Ateyya defended his country's airport security at a press briefing during the seven-hour hostage ordeal. That has come under scrutiny since a Russian passenger jet crashed after taking off from the country's Sharm el-Sheikh airport in October.

ISIS claimed responsibility for downing the Metrojet plane and the tragedy raised questions about how any potential explosives may have made it on board and whether there were security failings on Egypt's end.

EgyptAir's last hijacking was 30 years ago when an Athens to Cairo flight was seized by terrorists and diverted to Malta. When negotiations failed, Egyptian troops stormed the aircraft but the hijackers fought back with hand grenades. Sixty of the 90 passengers were killed. 

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