Cyprus bodysnatchers ransom riddle
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Tuesday March 09 2010
Cypriot police acting on a tip-off have found the stolen body of former president Tassos Papadopoulos in a Nicosia cemetery.
But confusion surrounds the bodysnatchers' motive following claims that a ransom had been demanded.
The corpse was discovered at a different cemetery than the suburban Nicosia graveyard from where it was stolen on December 11 - the eve of the first anniversary of Mr Papadopoulos' death.
Cyprus's justice minister Loucas Louca later confirmed that a ransom had been demanded. He would not say when the demand was made and stressed that no money had been handed over.
However, a spokesman for the Papadopoulos family, Chrysis Pantelides, quickly denied the family had received any demands.
Police said the robbers had removed a heavy marble plaque from on top of the grave, digging down to the coffin and removing the body of Mr Papadopoulos, who died of lung cancer on December 12, 2008, at age 74.
They left few clues at the scene. Lime was strewn over the grave in what investigators believe was an attempt to erase any tracks they might have left behind. Investigators even sought the help of the FBI and Interpol as well as Greek and Israeli law enforcement authorities to solve the bizarre case.
The body-snatching horrified Cypriots and came as the island's Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders were locked in complex negotiations aimed at reunifying the divided island. The talks have made only marginal progress after 18 months.
Cyprus was divided into an internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece. The motive for the theft remains a mystery, but Mr Papadopoulos - who was president from 2003 to 2008 - is considered by many right-wing Greek Cypriots as a symbol of resistance to peace accords they believe are weighted against them.
