Leeds man '˜posed for picture with hijacker of Egyptian plane'

Ben Innes, 26, was on the flight with Seif Eldin Mustafa who forced the plane heading for Cairo to travel to Cyprus while wearing what is now known to be a fake suicide vest.

Pauline Innes, from Biggin, Selby, said: “We don’t really want to comment on what has happened until he’s home and we know he’s safe and well.

“Obviously he’s not come home yet and there are security issues to think about - we don’t want to talk about anything until it has all been resolved.”

She added: “All we can say is that the picture is clearly not a selfie as everyone has been describing it.

“You can clearly see that it is not Ben who is taking the picture. He’s in it but he’s not taking it.

“But we don’t want to speak about anything until he’s back home.”

Former York University student Mr Innes, reported to be a health and safety officer based in Aberdeen, was one of four ‘foreigners’ held hostage along members of the crew during the six-hour standoff in Cyprus. He was one of the three last remaining hostages seen running across the tarmac in the moments before Mustafa disembarked.

Mr Innes lived in the Oakwood area of Leeds before he moved to Aberdeen.