Man jailed over terror
NICOSIA, June 29, (AFP): Cyprus on Monday sentenced to six years in jail a Lebanese man who pleaded guilty to terror charges linked to 8.2 tonnes of potential bomb-making material found in his home. Judicial authorities said Hussein Bassam Abdallah, who also has a Canadian passport, was a member of the military wing of the Iranianbacked Shiite movement Hezbollah.
The 26-yearold was sentence to jail by a criminal court in the southern town of Larnaca after he pleaded guilty to terror charges.
In passing sentence judge Nicolaos Santis took into consideration the accused’s remorse for what he did and what he said was his full cooperation with the authorities.
But he stressed that Abdallah “played the role assigned to him within the broader design of things, so that eventually Hezbollah would be able to harm, through terrorist attacks, Israeli interests in Cyprus”.
The charges against Abdallah covered the period 2012 until May 27, 2015, during which time the material was stockpiled in Cyprus.
Abdallah was arrested in a Larnaca suburb in May following a surveillance operation.
Basement
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Authorities seized some 8.2 tonnes of ammonium nitrate in the basement of his temporary home.
Ammonium nitrate is a fertiliser that when mixed with other substances can be used to make explosives.
The prosecution said this was a method used by Hezbollah.
Prosecution lawyer Polina Efthivoulou said Abdallah had admitted to being a member of Hezbollah’s military wing and sent to Cyprus to ensure the ammonium nitrate was safely kept.
She said the bomb-making material was intended for terrorist attacks against Israeli interests in Cyprus.
Foreign Minister Ioanis Kasoulides said during a visit to Israel earlier this month that the authorities believe they have thwarted a possible attack on Israeli targets.
The island attracts thousands of tourists from nearby Israel every year. There is also an Israeli embassy in the capital Nicosia.
Defence lawyer Savvas Angelides said his client’s role was only to check on the nitrate and to move it to another location — not to carry out attacks.
He also urged the court to show leniency, saying that his client cooperated with authorities and had decided to quit Hezbollah.
Investigative sources have said the amount of ammonium nitrate seized by authorities is the biggest anywhere in the world.
Abdallah also had nearly 10,000 euros in his possession when caught.
Cyprus is not known for its militant activity despite its proximity to the Middle East.
But in 2013, a Cypriot court sentenced a Lebanon-born Swedish man who admitted he was a Hezbollah member, to four years in jail after he was found guilty of targeting Israelis on the island.
A botched bomb attack on the Israeli embassy in 1988 claimed the lives of three people.
Rival Cypriot leaders have made progress on the prickly core issues of putting the divided island back together again, UN envoy Espen Barth Eide said on Monday.
He said in a statement that Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades met at the UNcontrolled buffer zone in Nicosia “in a positive and results-oriented atmosphere”.
“The leaders are now immersed in substantive negotiations,” said Eide.
“Their focus is on unresolved core issues ... negotiators provided the leaders with an update... on a specific set of core issues across the chapters of governance, property and criteria on territory,” he added.
Long-stalled UN-brokered peace — in what is seen as the best chance in years to reunify Cyprus after four decades of division — were launched on May 15.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece.
The Norwegian diplomat said the leaders were determined to keep up the pace.