Cypriot police said Sunday they were searching for a senior U.S. diplomat stationed in Nicosia who has been missing for three days. "A member of the American embassy has been reported as missing and police are cooperating with the US embassy in search efforts to try and find him," a police spokeswoman said, according to AFP.
Police will not say whether they are treating the case as suspicious or elaborate further on an investigation being treated as "sensitive."
Tom Mooney, the defense attaché at the embassy, has not been seen since Thursday. A US embassy spokesman said his car had also gone missing.
According to state radio, the 45-year-old diplomat was last seen leaving the US embassy Thursday lunchtime, adding that his mobile phone is switched off.
It said the Americans contacted the police late Friday after their own internal investigation came up with nothing.
Police are concentrating their initial search on ports, airports, and checkpoints on the divided island's Green Line, the radio report added. The diplomat has been serving in Cyprus for more than a year.
© 2007 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
