Scuffles over tree felling

ONE person was arrested and two were slightly injured in Cyprus last night during scuffles between British bases personnel and locals opposing moves to uproot trees on an army firing range Residents in a village close to the British sovereign base of Dhekelia blocked a main road leading out of the base in reaction to the felling of trees, which started on Monday.

Scuffles involving the 70 to 80 Greek Cypriots blocking the road broke out when police moved in to disperse them. One witness said police wielded truncheons.

A spokesman for the British bases said several people were rounded up but subsequently released. One person arrested earlier in the day was still in custody.

British troops started uprooting trees from the firing range on Monday. They say the trees were illegally planted by locals who used mist netting on them to catch birds.

Residents of Xylophagou village also briefly blocked the road on Tuesday night.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.