1st LD Writethru: Cyprus probes Syrians for connections with jihadists

Cyprus police are investigating three Syrian men who allegedly have possible connections with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a police spokesman said on Friday.

Police arrested two Syrian men, both of whom live permanently in Cyprus, in the western city of Paphos. The men, respectively aged 39 and 46, were accused of exporting vehicles and goods to the jihadists in Syria.

They were released on bail and were ordered to surrender their travel documents. They will appear before the court on April 23.

The third Syrian was detained in the southern city of Limassol on suspicion of having connections with terrorist organizations in Syria.

A police investigator said the men arrested in Paphos admitted exporting twin-cabin pick-up vehicles to Syria but denied any cooperation or connection with terrorists organizations.

They said they drove the cars into the northern part of Cyprus and shipped them to Syria through the port of Kyrenia.

Police spokesman Andreas Angelides said investigators are checking whether the suspects have exported a total of 11 pick-up vans and other goods to Syria from 2013 to March, 2014.

Videos uploaded to YouTube recently showed jihadist fighters in Syria firing machine-guns from pick-up vans bearing Cypriot registration plates.

Cypriot authorities suspect that jihadist operatives in Cyprus use the northern part of Cyprus as a stepping stone to fighting areas in Syria and Iraq.

The chief of Cyprus's secret service said last month that a small number of westerners may have reached Syria after legally arriving in Cyprus and then went to Turkey via the northern part of Cyprus.

He also said that a small number of Cyprus-registered vehicles exported to Turkey ended up in the hands of Islamic State militants in Syria. Endit