THE GOVERNMENT did its best to keep things in perspective, but reports of British "spying" activity on the island yesterday threatened to take on a life of their own.
The reports were sparked by debate of the Echelon monitoring network at the European parliament’s civil liberties committee on Wednesday. A report tabled before the committee by British physicist Duncan Campbell suggested the British-American satellite monitoring system was used to intercept fax, telephone and radio exchanges across the globe.
The report apparently notes that one of Echelon’s 10 ground monitoring stations is located within the British Bases on Cyprus. This led local newspapers and radio and television stations to conclude that the British were spying against Cyprus.
Armed with these claims – and well-aware of public sensitivity to spying issues – local journalists yesterday set out to get comment on the matter from any official available.
Government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou seemed to suggest it was self-evident that monitoring was part of the function of the British bases.
AThe British have military bases, as we all know, and these bases are not schools or colleges," he told his morning briefing.
"Everyone knows the British have radars (on Cyprus); what they do, we cannot say," he added.
But the spokesman stated the government had no official information on the issue and was not about to draw conclusions solely on the basis of reports.
"We’ve seen the reports and are investigating the issue. Once the facts have been determined, we will decide about what the government will do, whether it will act, and how."
Justice Minister Nicos Koshis said he knew nothing about the issue except what he had read in the papers.
Defence Minister Socratis Hasikos said the state had no evidence of British spying against Cyprus.
"We cannot say for sure whether there are (British) spying stations or not. If they are indeed spying on our interests, it is a very big issue. But because there is nothing before us to say there is spying, all we can do is ask for explanations from the British," Hasikos said.
The chairman of the House defence committee, Takis Hadjidemetriou, was not nearly as cautious as the government in his response.
He said it was "well-known" that the British were spying on Cyprus.
"Various services, and the bases in particular, are spying against our country," Hadjidemetriou said.
Greek Euro-MP Alecos Alavanos – a member of the European parliament committee examining the Echelon issue – fanned the flames further yesterday.
Alavanos said the government should urgently seek explanations on the Echelon issue from London.
The MEP said the monitoring system threatened the "health and safety" of local residents. He admitted he did not know where exactly the echelon ground station in Cyprus was.
British Sovereign Base (SBA) authorities declined to comment on the essence of the issue yesterday.
"Britain has long-established worldwide communications networks and the facilities in Cyprus have always been an important link in the worldwide communications organisations," a brief bases statement read.
"The SBA cannot comment on specific aspects of this worldwide communications network."
