Since the beginning of November, two persons had been arrested, who were allegedly planning an attack against Israeli and Jewish targets in Cyprus, Police spokesman Christos Andreou said on Monday, in his statements in Limassol. At the same time, he emphasized that there is nothing to worry about and all necessary measures are being taken.
"Instructions have already been given, especially in this period of time when the holidays are coming, from the Chief of Police himself to all Police Directors, since last Friday, as in the following period there is an increased presence of members of the Police both at gatherings and at points where a lot of people gather, but also in areas where there is increased crime in terms of criminal offences, because you understand we are also concerned about this, as well as on the highways and the road network in terms of traffic controls", said Mr. Andreou in his statements in Limassol .
Asked about the arrest of two people for terrorism, Mr. Andreou said that "what we can confirm is that yes indeed two people have been arrested since the beginning of November, that is since November 3 and they are in custody until now" .
He noted that these two individuals are currently being held on detention and deportation orders.
"But unfortunately we cannot go into more details. You understand these are sensitive security matters so there is no other detail we can say publicly," he added.
Noting that they are not the only persons who have been arrested for similar matters and asked if this worries the authorities and if any additional measures are being taken to possibly prevent the planning of such actions, Mr. Andreou said that certainly, it is an issue that concerns them and the themselves as the Cypriot Police, but also all countries, "but also (the countries) of the area where we are, very close to the Middle East".
"All the necessary measures are taken, information is evaluated, which comes to us from various sources, whether these sources concern Europol, Interpol, but also from other sources from third countries. I repeat, we evaluate all the information that comes to us and accordingly the members of the Police who deal with this type of cases act accordingly", he added.
Mr. Andreou pointed out that "there is nothing alarming at the moment to panic people, we are taking all those measures and we hope that we will not have any serious issues".
In response to a question whether the arrested have given a statement to the investigators and to an observation that he appears reassuring, Mr. Andreou commented that "you realize, however, in these matters no one can predict what will happen in the future".
"We also see in European countries that some persons, whether the so-called lone wolves, sometimes act without even having any foresight. I repeat, we are taking all the necessary measures as in this particular case, where we have proceeded to arrest these two persons. They are still in custody, as I have said, and any information that comes to us is being assessed and acted upon," he noted.
Asked if there is a possibility that Greek Cypriots or other people of other ethnicities are also related to this case, Mr. Andreou said that "we have said that we do not go into any details in relation to these cases, but you understand so as not to panic the world as well we will say that until this moment there is nothing else for any person".
Noting that the people appear anxious due to the mass events in various places and in combination with the list of places related to Israelis, Mr. Andreou said that they receive a lot of information from the public, from ordinary citizens, about suspicious persons, the which are evaluated and take the necessary measures.
Source: KYPE