Roundup: Possible attack against Israeli targets thwarted: media

Cypriot security authorities said they have thwarted a possible terrorist attack against Israeli interests by arresting a Lebanese man earlier this week, local media reported on Friday.

The man, who was traveling on a Canadian passport, was remanded in custody on Thursday by a court for keeping almost two tons of ammonium nitrate in his residence at the seaside city of Larnaca.

Ammonium nitrate is used as a fertilizer but is an explosive chemical compound by itself and is used as the main ingredient in the manufacture of high-power explosive devices.

The chemical substance was found in 64,000 packets kept in 420 boxes, a fact that led investigators to speculate that it had possibly been readied for imminent use.

Three newspapers, quoting unnamed sources, said the man was an operative of the Hezbollah group operating in Lebanon and that he was closely associated with the group's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

The man arrived in Cyprus last week and was residing in a two-story building. One newspaper said that the police believe that the ammonium nitrate had been brought into the house in small quantities over some time.

A police spokesman declined to disclose the line of investigations into the case, saying that the man had been under surveillance until arrested on Wednesday and that all possibilities as to his plans are being explored.

But authorities requested a closed-door court hearing for the remand of the suspect invoking national security interests which could be compromised by the evidence presented at the session.

One newspaper said authorities had been alerted by unnamed foreign security services about the possibility of a planned terrorist attack on Cypriot soil.

Cyprus is very close to Israel and also to Lebanon and Syria and has at times been drawn into the Arab-Israeli conflict.

There have been at least four serious attacks in Cyprus by Palestinian groups since 1978 against Israeli or Egyptian targets after Egypt's peace pact with the Jewish state and two attacks aimed at Palestinians which have been attributed to the Israeli secret services.

Cypriot authorities also thwarted planned attacks against Israeli interests, including a possible attack on Israeli tourists in 2013. A Swedish man of Lebanese descent was jailed after admitting that he had been asked by Hezbollah to keep track and provide information on the movements of Israeli tourists.

Cyprus has traditionally maintained warm relations with all Arab states and the Palestinians. It also maintained friendly relations with Israel which have been improving over the last six or seven years.

Cyprus and Israel held joint military drills recently and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades will travel to Israel on June 15 for talks, becoming the first foreign leader to pay a visit to Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a government following an election in May.

The two countries are engaged in negotiations for the joint development on natural gas discovered in offshore fields bordering the demarcation line of their respective exclusive economic zones. Endit