Greek Cyprus seeks Interpol help to find stolen leader's body
Greek Cypriot police have turned to Interpol for help solving the theft of former President Tassos Papadopoulos' corpse amid fears that delays in the investigation could hurt efforts to reunite the divided island.
Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said Wednesday that investigators had questioned numerous people regarding the Dec. 11 grave robbery, but none were being treated as suspects.
Police have yet to establish a motive for what both of the island's communities, Greek Orthodox and Muslim, call an act of sacrilege.
Katsounotos said Interpol will help investigators "piece together the puzzle."
Authorities believe that more than three people were involved in the nighttime raid in a suburban Nicosia graveyard, a day before the first anniversary of the hard-line Greek Cypriot statesman's death from lung cancer.
Given the high political stakes – rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders are engaged in difficult peace talks – police are under immense pressure to come up with answers soon.
"Our priority is to solve this case quickly," Justice Minister Loucas Louca said. He said Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias had ordered such speed "so calm can be restored to the political landscape and to all citizens."
In the absence of a clear motive, potentially explosive rumors are circulating, involving nationalists of all stripes, and even a desire to use the body for black magic.
The local media favor two scenarios – either a bid for ransom by professional extortionists or an effort to undermine the peace process.
Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat have both called the theft an "act of provocation." Talat blamed opponents of the peace process.
Police spokesman Katsounotos said Papadopoulos' family categorically denies having received a ransom demand.
He said investigators were following two new leads, but refused to elaborate.
Cyprus was divided into a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north in 1974, when Turkey intervened after a coup by supporters of union with Greece. The Mediterranean island's internationally recognized government is based in the south, while the north is recognized only by Turkey.
President from 2003 to 2008, Papadopoulos was for many Greek Cypriots the standard bearer of resistance to unfair peace plans.
It was in response to emotional appeals from Papadopoulos that three-quarters of Greek Cypriots turned down a United Nations peace plan in a 2004 referendum. A majority of Turkish Cypriots approved the plan in a separate referendum.
© 2009 Hurriyet Daily News
19.12.2009
