Ex-Cyprus president's stolen body recovered
Source: Agencies |
March 10, 2010, Wednesday
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RANSOM was the motive behind the bizarre bodysnatching of Cyprus' former President Tassos Papadopoulos, the justice minister said yesterday, hours after the body was found dumped in a Nicosia cemetery - but Papadopoulos' family denied receiving any such demand.
Minister Loucas Louca said Papadopoulos' family had received a demand for ransom for the return of the body, which was stolen from its grave on Nicosia's southern outskirts in December, but no money had been paid.
"The conclusion is that ransom was behind the theft and there was no political motive," said Louca, adding that the family had contacted police after receiving the demand.
But two spokesmen for the family refuted Louca's statement, telling The Associated Press that the family had received no such demand.
"Officials must be very careful when they open their mouths," said Vassilis Palmas, former government spokesman during Papadopoulos' tenure and a close friend of Papadopoulos' family. "No ransom demand has been made of any family member. ... The minister said something that is unfounded."
It was the latest twist in a baffling investigation that had drawn in the FBI, Interpol and Israeli law enforcement.
A telephone tip-off led police to the body late Monday at the cemetery in the Nicosia suburb of Tseri in the Greek Cypriot south, and DNA testing early yesterday confirmed it was Papadopoulos' body, police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said.
Cemetery caretaker Petros Avraamides told the Cyprus news agency that Papadopoulos' body was found at a grave where another person is buried.
The bodysnatching shocked Cypriots and came as the divided island's Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders were locked in complex reunification talks that have made only marginal progress after 18 months.
The call to police was made from a phone booth a few kilometers away from the cemetery, Katsounotos said, adding that investigators examined the booth for fingerprints and evidence that could lead to the caller's identity.
Family members, including three of Papadopoulos' adult children, rushed to the cemetery amid heavy police security after being notified of the corpse's discovery.
"The discovery of our beloved Tassos' corpse has put an end to the agony that we have been living through the last three months and has brought back peace and tranquility to our family," Papadopoulos' widow Fotini said.
Minister Loucas Louca said Papadopoulos' family had received a demand for ransom for the return of the body, which was stolen from its grave on Nicosia's southern outskirts in December, but no money had been paid.
"The conclusion is that ransom was behind the theft and there was no political motive," said Louca, adding that the family had contacted police after receiving the demand.
But two spokesmen for the family refuted Louca's statement, telling The Associated Press that the family had received no such demand.
"Officials must be very careful when they open their mouths," said Vassilis Palmas, former government spokesman during Papadopoulos' tenure and a close friend of Papadopoulos' family. "No ransom demand has been made of any family member. ... The minister said something that is unfounded."
It was the latest twist in a baffling investigation that had drawn in the FBI, Interpol and Israeli law enforcement.
A telephone tip-off led police to the body late Monday at the cemetery in the Nicosia suburb of Tseri in the Greek Cypriot south, and DNA testing early yesterday confirmed it was Papadopoulos' body, police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said.
Cemetery caretaker Petros Avraamides told the Cyprus news agency that Papadopoulos' body was found at a grave where another person is buried.
The bodysnatching shocked Cypriots and came as the divided island's Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders were locked in complex reunification talks that have made only marginal progress after 18 months.
The call to police was made from a phone booth a few kilometers away from the cemetery, Katsounotos said, adding that investigators examined the booth for fingerprints and evidence that could lead to the caller's identity.
Family members, including three of Papadopoulos' adult children, rushed to the cemetery amid heavy police security after being notified of the corpse's discovery.
"The discovery of our beloved Tassos' corpse has put an end to the agony that we have been living through the last three months and has brought back peace and tranquility to our family," Papadopoulos' widow Fotini said.
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