Electrician admits planting Larnaca bombs

A LARNACA electrician yesterday pleaded guilty to involvement in two bomb attacks in the town last month.

But another Larnaca man — who police believe was the “mastermind” behind the blasts — pleaded not guilty to similar charges.

Demetris Demetriou, 22, will be sentenced on July 8, while the trial of the alleged “mastermind”, 36-year-old Demetris Demetriou, known as Jimis, will continue.

The two Demetrious are charged with conspiring to commit a crime, illegal possession of explosives and attempting to destroy property.

The bomb attacks — on an Electricity Authority (EAC) sub-station next to the oil refinery, on May 21, and the district court, on May 23 — caused only minor damage and no injuries.

Police say the electrician planted the home-made explosives. He was arrested about 300 yards from the courthouse shortly after the early morning bomb attack after he was involved in an accident. Police say he crashed his motorbike in his rush to abandon the scene of the explosion.

Justice Minister Nicos Koshis has suggested the bomb attacks were part of an effort by the Larnaca underworld to “asset” itself in the coastal town.

Two other men arrested in connection with the attacks — Andreas Antoniou Kitsios, 26, from the Limassol district village of Ayios Amvrosios and National Guardsman Iakovos Hadjantonis, 19, from Larnaca — were later released without charge.

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.