Cypriot official says probe backs Mossad claims that hitman plotted to kill Israelis on the island

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus police investigations support claims by Israel’s Mossad spy service that an Iranian-backed hit squad planned to kill Israelis and other Jews in the east Mediterranean island nation. An intelligence official said on Friday that Cypriot police had tracked an Iranian national identified as Yusef Shahabazi Abbasalilu following information from “friendly intelligence services.” The official says that subsequent probes into his activities indicated there was a plot for such killings, with at least one person on a hit list. Abbasalilu initially attempted to set up base and recruit others in the ethnically divided island’s breakaway Turkish Cypriot north, where its internationally recognized authorities have no access.