By Anthony O. Miller
No Israeli Mossad agents ever operated at Cyprus airports, Deputy Police Chief Andreas Christofides, said yesterday, dismissing as “not true” House MP Kikis Yiangou’s claims to the contrary, and his allegation that the Cyprus Police force had ever surrendered its authority to Mossad or El Al agents there.
Yiangou, in a Haravghi story yesterday, said agents of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service had been screening passengers flying to Israel from Larnaca and Paphos airports.
The deputy told Haravghi, mouthpiece of the communist Akel party, that a “confidential document” obtained by a local television station – the paper did not identify the TV station – confirmed that the Council of Ministers, aghast at the situation, had revoked Mossad’s alleged powers to screen passengers leaving Cyprus.
Yiangou said these alleged restrictions on Mossad by the Council of Ministers confirmed that the Cyprus Police had, indeed, let Mossad usurp airport police security prerogatives.
He further alleged that Mossad agents in May chased down a foreign tourist who was behaving suspiciously, tortured him and only released him when Cyprus police intervened.
“I know the statements made by Mr. Kikis Yiangou, but that’s not the case,” Christofides said. “No Mossad agent has ever been there at the airport. It’s a misunderstanding. We don’t have Mossad agents at the airport. We don’t need them. We have our own (intelligence) agents. We have our own police officers.”
Christofides did not elaborate on the case of the alleged abuse of a foreign tourist, except to say he was familiar with the allegation.
However, other security sources familiar with the case said it was Cyprus airport police, and not agents of Mossad or El Al security personnel, who roughed up the tourist in question.
The source said the Cyprus police then left the scene, sticking the El Al personnel there with the rap, which for diplomatic reasons El Al did not protest against.
As to surrendering police powers to Israeli agents, Christofides bristled: “No, that’s not true. We never surrendered our authority. The only authority in Cyprus responsible for security, not only for the El Al company but for all security matters, is the police.”
“El Al security officers are present (in both airports). They may advise, but they have no authority to do anything. Only the Cyprus police has the authority for security at the airport,” he said.
Phileleftheros on Sunday said Nicos Koshis, Minister of Justice and Public Order, had confirmed that a Council of Ministers’ decision had restricted the scope of the activities of El Al security personnel at the two airports.
Phileleftheros said these restrictions followed complaints about alleged excesses by El Al security personnel, and alarm caused last year by an Israeli security drill at Larnaca airport that failed to alert airport authorities ahead of time.
“There wasn’t any revocation,” a government source, who insisted on anonymity, said of the Council’s action. “It was kind of putting something in order which was not, in a sense. There were no established procedures on how these people would act, and so there was some kind of order imposed on a situation which existed… but was not based on certain regulations.”
The source said the Foreign Ministry had communicated the Council’s wishes to the Israeli Embassy, and the matter had been satisfactorily handled – contrary to the Phileleftheros report, which said the Israeli embassy bridled at the Foreign Ministry’s communiqué.
Christofides echoed the source, saying: “Sometimes in the past, they (the El Al personnel) over-reacted, not in a way replacing the police. But sometimes they over-reacted. So the matter was reconsidered, and everything now has been arranged… (and) they are not over-reacting.”
But Christofides insisted that the duties of El Al security personnel, many of them Cyprus nationals, “have not been limited… What they could do in the past, they can also do now… interview passengers, for example, to check their papers, to see if they have visas.”
“They are El Al agents. If they notice something suspicious, they have to bring it to the attention of the Cyprus police. They have not authority to do anything else. We have police officers at the airport, and if something is going wrong… then it is the police at the airport who are going to arrest or to search,” he said.
“Representatives from the Israeli embassy, the security officer from the Israeli embassy, may be present there,” to escort Israel’s ambassador or other VIPs, or to pick up the diplomatic pouch, he said. “They are security officers; there is nothing wrong with this. But they cannot perform police duties.”
Christofides declined to characterise Yiangou’s remarks as irresponsible: “No, I cannot say that,” he said, adding: “Mr Yiangou makes many, many, many statements every day.” He did not elaborate.
However, security sources who declined to be identified, said Yiangou was re-visiting the old charges against the Israeli embassy, its security personnel and the Israeli flag carrier, El Al, for “political” reasons.
The sources said Yiangou had an axe to grind with Israel because of its military ties to Turkey, which have caused some concern in Cyprus political and governmental circles. Israel insists its military ties to Turkey are not a threat to Cyprus.
The Israeli embassy yesterday declined to comment on the two newspaper stories. Israeli sources did, however, insist that the El Al airport security personnel in Cyprus were merely employees of El Al, and not employees of the embassy, or Mossad agents.
