Two arrested on suspected Al Qaeda links

POLICE and CID officers in Nicosia officers arrested two Asian men in the early hours of Wednesday morning on suspicion of being part of a terrorist organisation.

According to reports from Phileleftheros newspaper, the two men, believed to be from Pakistan, are said by police officials to be affiliated to terrorist organisations connected to Osama Bin Laden’s al Qaeda network.

Police officers as well as members of the CID and the Immigration Services made the joint arrest after receiving an anonymous tip off.

Following the arrest a further 14 people were arrested but were only charged with residing on the island illegally and are set to be deported.

The two men, who were neither working on the island or students, were taken in for questioning by police officials as well as officials of the CID at the main police headquarters in Nicosia, while other officers examined the apartment the two men were staying at.

Almost a year ago, police made a similar arrest in Larnaca taking into custody a group of Asian men also suspected of being linked to terrorist organisations. However, the men later returned back to their countries after no evidence was found against them.

According to the CIA, both the north and south of Cyprus has become a center for offshore money laundering by Arab banks fronting al Qaeda funds into the Balkans.

Police spokesman Demetris Demetriou said that he had no comment on the arrests.

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