Cyprus police foiled an alleged plot to assassinate Israeli businessmen operating from the Mediterranean island nation, local media reported on Wednesday.
According to the Greek-language media house Philenews, law enforcement detained a 38-year-old Azeri national carrying a Russian passport in the capital of Nicosia who was suspected of being hired to carry out a hit on the Israeli capitalists.
The suspect was reportedly arrested shortly after crossing the Agios Dhometios checkpoint in Nicosia from the Turkish-ruled breakaway northern part of the island.
Officers reportedly retrieved a gun, ammunition and a silencer from a car that the suspect had rented. Police are now searching after possible accomplices although they are believed that have fled the country after the arrest or to be hiding in Northern Cyprus.
Cypriot authorities have been keeping tabs on the suspect's movements for several days prior to his arrest.
Sources say the suspect arrived in the country through the international airport in Larnaca earlier this month and rented a car which he parked near a suburb of the capital where his alleged targets lived and worked.
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People gather at Mackenzie beach in the coastal city of Larnaca on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus
(Photo: AFP)
He then rented an electric scooter and crossed the border between the southern and northern parts of the city several times while trying to keep a low profile.
The suspect was said to be uncooperative with authorities.
The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem said that it was unfamiliar with the details of the case.