Cyprus jails forger caught out by sloppy spelling

NICOSIA, March 1 (Reuters) You might have the best forgery skills in the world, but it is not much use if you cannot spell.

A Cyprus court jailed Pakistani national Fazal Ur Rehman for eight months for forgery after police spotted spelling mistakes on stamps on an Afghan passport he was carrying -- otherwise it was a near-perfect copy, the Cyprus Mail said today.

''Ministry'' was spelt ''Menistry'' and the first ''n'' was missing from government, the newspaper said.

''The passport looked perfect and professionally made ...

almost deemed original by forensics,'' a police officer told a magistrate in the Cypriot capital Nicosia.

Reuters KD BS1609