Reports: Cyprus Police Seek to Hold Lebanese Suspect Longer
Cyprus police have applied to hold a young Lebanese man for a further week over allegations he was helping to plan an attack on Israeli tourists, media on the island reported on Friday.
The 24-year-old, who holds a Swedish passport, appeared at a closed-door hearing on Friday and a court in the island's second city Limassol will decide on Monday whether he should remain in custody, the reports said.
Cyprus police have refused to comment publicly on the case on the grounds that it is a "sensitive political issue".
"This is an issue of security which we take very seriously and we cannot comment any further," a police spokesman told Agence France Presse last week.
But online news website Sigmalive said the suspect was arrested in a Limassol hotel room on July 7 after flying in from London.
Police suspect he was in Cyprus to track movements of Israeli tourists and find out when group tours arrived on the holiday island, it added.
Reports say his arrest followed a tip-off from foreign intelligence agencies, including Israel's Mossad.
The case comes as Cyprus beefs up security for Israeli interests on the island following a suicide bombing in Bulgaria that killed six people on Wednesday, five of them Israeli tourists.
Israel has blamed that attack on Hizbullah and Iran.
In 2011, nearly 32,000 tourists came to Cyprus from Israel, less than an hour's flight away, and official figures have shown an upward trend this year.
The island had seen attacks against Israeli interests in late 70s and early 80s, but since then it had been viewed as neutral ground for unofficial Middle East peace contacts.
Source: Agence France Presse
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