Cyprus detains two Pakistanis after alert -newspaper

NICOSIA, March 6 (Reuters) Authorities in Cyprus detained two Pakistanis last week after British intelligence reports of an imminent car bomb attack on the US or British embassy, the Phileleftheros newspaper reported today.

Police and government officials refused to comment on the report, and British diplomats were not immediately available.

The newspaper said police were alerted on Friday, March 2.

Two Pakistanis, identified by British intelligence, were detained and one of them had a forged passport, Phileleftheros said, adding police had been unable to verify they were planning to attack either diplomatic compound.

The last international incident on the island was in 1988 when a number of people died in a botched car bomb attack on the Israeli embassy in Nicosia.

Cypriot police routinely share intelligence with western agencies and fellow European Union members, and are known to keep a close watch on the thousands of students from Asian and Middle Eastern countries on the island.

Citing security reasons in July 2004, Cyprus deported 10 Pakistani students, including what a security source then described as an expert on surface-to-air missiles, who had enrolled at a local college to study hotel management.

REUTERS MS ND1622