Fourth man held over Larnaca bombs

A FOURTH suspect was remanded in custody yesterday in connection with two recent bomb attacks in Larnaca.

Larnaca District Court heard that Larnaca man Andreas Antoniou Kitsios, 26, had conspired with Demetris Demetriou, known as Jimis, to plan the bomb attacks on an Electricity Authority (EAC) sub-station and the District court itself. No one was hurt in either of the attacks and structural damage was minimal.

Police say 36-year-old Jimis, from Larnaca, has been named as the “mastermind” behind the two blasts by the two other men being held for the attacks. Demetris Demetriou, 22, and Iakovos Hadjantonis, 19, both from Larnaca, were arrested in the early hours last Sunday shortly after a bomb went off by the back door of the court house. Demetriou was injured in a motorbike accident just 300 yards from the court and only minutes after the blast. Police say he crashed in his rush to abandon the scene of the crime.

The bomb at the EAC sub-station had gone off two days earlier, on May 21 – not far from the town’s oil refinery. Police say identical home-made devices were used in both attacks.

Case investigator Iakovos Ioannou told the court yesterday that Kitsios was a “bosom buddy” of Jimis’s and had been seen with him in Larnaca nightclub on the night of the courthouse bomb attack.

Ioannou asked the court to approve an eight day remand for Kitsios to allow time for around 30 witness statements to be taken. He said the 26-year-old was suspected of conspiring to commit a crime, illegal possession of explosives and destruction of property with explosive devices.

The court questioned the strength of the evidence against Kitsios that Ioannou had presented. After a three-hour deliberation, it decided to remand the fourth suspect for only four days.

Justice Minister Nicos Koshis has suggested the bomb attacks are part of an effort by the Larnaca “underworld” to “stamp its authority” on the town.

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.