Xiourouppas condition improves

ANDREAS Xiourouppas – shot at close range by a hooded gunman last Friday – has seen some improvement in his condition, but remains in intensive care and under 24 hour police guard.

The news on Xiourouppas’ condition was given yesterday by the head of surgery at Larnaca Hospital, Dr Michalis Theophanou.

Xiourouppas – a Diko councillor for Aradippou – was hit three times in the head and neck and by an unknown assailant in Larnaca at 7.50pm in the parking area of his block of flats.

The hooded gunman fired at Xiourouppas as he was getting out of his car. Xiourouppas then managed to run 20 metres into a nearby corridor before collapsing and being shot a second time at close range.

Police say between six and eight shots were fired in total. Two of these hit a taxi waiting for an unnamed woman in the block of flats.

Police investigations have so far revealed that the gun used was a pistol not fitted with a silencer. The police have carried out extensive questioning and are investigating whether a name whispered by Xiourouppas just before he blacked out, was actually the name of his assailant or was simply said randomly.

Xiourouppas’ son, George, 28, is currently in custody in Limassol suspected of involvement in an underworld murder plot.

Xiourouppas himself has a criminal record after being convicted for his part in the attempted murder of Charalambos Boutzouris after he took a fire- arm into a Larnaca cabaret.

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.