The Cypriot government demanded the Turkish Cypriot authorities free a man, whom they claim was captured Wednesday in retaliation for the arrest of an alleged Turkish-Cypriot heroin smuggler in the southern part of the island.
"It's a clear-cut case of abduction and a tit-for-tat measure," government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou told AFP. "We are taking all necessary diplomatic steps to have the man released."
The UN told AFP that Panicos Tsiakkourmas, a Greek Cypriot builder, was being held in the north on drugs charges and will appear in court Thursday.
"Turkish Cypriot police say they have the man and are charging him with possession of 2 kilos of cannabis. We are trying to gain access to him," Sarah Russell, spokesperson for UN forces in Cyprus, told AFP.
Tsiakkourmas, 39, had gone to the British military base at Pergamos to pick up six Turkish Cypriot workers, coming from the north, when he was reported missing by his brother, said police.
Cypriot authorities believe Tsiakkourmas' arrest is tied directly to the Greek Cypriot police's arrest of Turkish Cypriot Omar Techoglu on charges of smuggling 2 kilos of heroin into Cyprus on December 2.
"This is a strange reaction by the regime against a government which fulfilled its legitimate duty and took a drug smuggler to court," Papapetrou said.
Techoglu, 42, is scheduled to appear in court in January. His father is said to have close ties with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, which has given the incident a political dimension.
The breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is only recognised by Turkey.
The Turkish Cypriot authorities claimed Techoglu was "kidnapped" by Greek Cypriot police inside UN-controlled territory where they have no power of arrest.
The British High Commission in Nicosia said it was working closely with the government to unravel the facts of Tsiakkourmas' arrest.
The circumstances surrounding the man's disappearance and arrest were described as "strange" by the British base authorities.
Spokesman Rob Need said the man's car was found parked some 400 metres (440 yards) from the Pergamos checkpoint at 6 AM local time (0400 GMT) this morning.
"We found the car lights on, the door was open, the engine was running and the mobile phone was perched on the dash board," Need told AFP.
He said British military police were investigating, "why the car was found where it was." -- NICOSIA (AFP)
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