Greek Cypriot police arrest Israeli firms' employees

By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet

ANKARA (AA) - Police of the Greek Cypriot administration arrested three Greek Cypriot employees of Israeli firms for alleged espionage, issuing arrest warrants for other three Israelis, according to local media.

According to reports by the daily Phileleftheros, the suspects were arrested on Thursday and were brought before a court on Friday.

At court, the suspects were investigated for over 13 crimes including "conspiracy to commit a crime" and offenses relating to protecting personal data.

The court ruled to release the suspects pending trial.

Two of the suspects are men between ages 30-35 working for Wispear, and the other a woman employed by NCIS. Both companies are owned by Israeli nationals, reports said.

Wispear has denied any kind of wrongdoing.

Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades told reporters on Friday that the issue would not affect relations with Israel.