Police in Cyprus have arrested a British man on suspicion of terror-related offences and espionage, authorities said on Saturday.
Limassol, Cyprus © Mena Today
Police in Cyprus have arrested a British man on suspicion of terror-related offences and espionage, authorities said on Saturday.
The man appeared before a district court on Saturday, which ordered an eight-day detention pending inquiries. No further details would be issued, police said, citing national security.
A spokesperson for Britain's Foreign Office confirmed the individual's nationality, saying it was in contact with local authorities.
"We are in contact (with) the authorities in Cyprus regarding the arrest of a British man," the spokesperson told Reuters.
Several Cypriot news outlets reported the suspect was a man of Azeri ethnic descent and had been arrested in the Zakaki suburb of the coastal city of Limassol. The suspect was thought to have had a British RAF military base in nearby Akrotiri under surveillance, as well as Cyprus's own Andreas Papandreou Air Base in the western region of Paphos since mid-April, Cyprus's ANT1 news portal reported.
Cyprus lies very close to the Middle East and has in recent days been used as a transit point for people either leaving or going to the region amid the conflict between regional foes Israel and Iran. Terror-related offences on the island are very rare.
Reporting by Michele Kambas and Sam Tabahriti
Israel on Wednesday launched a phased airlift operation to bring home its citizens, after the country's military strike on Iran closed air space across the Middle East, leaving tens of thousands of Israelis stuck overseas.
Cyprus has received requests to assist in the evacuation of citizens of Portugal and Slovakia from the Middle East, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said on Monday.
Iran has asked Cyprus to convey "some messages" to Israel, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Sunday, as the east Mediterranean island appealed for restraint in a rapidly escalating crisis in the Middle East.
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