Cyprus' intelligence chief resigns following mobile phone monitoring allegations

Cyprus' Central Intelligence Service (KYP) chief has resigned following allegations that it has been using recently acquired software to hack into mobile phones, the government spokesman said on Saturday.

"Following information and shadows cast over the use of specific software by KYP and in order to protect the remarkable work done so far by the Service, KYP head Andreas Pentaras today submitted his resignation to the President of the Republic, who accepted it," the spokesman said in a statement.

It added that President Nicos Anastasiades separately briefed party leaders on the issue and will discuss it in detail with them at a special meeting of a council grouping all parliamentary party leaders.

KYP comes directly under President Anastasiades, as its primary mission is considered to be the monitoring of Turkish military activity on and near the eastern Mediterranean island.

Cyprus and Turkey are technically at war since 1974, when Turkish troops occupied northern part of Cyprus, reacting to a coup engineered by officers of the junta ruling Greece at the time.

Turkey maintains between 35,000 and 45,000 troops on Cyprus.

As Cyprus is situated at a strategic point in the eastern part of the Mediterranean close to several Arab countries and Israel, KYP also keeps watch over the activities of operatives of radical organizations in the Middle East.

Its most recent success was the discovery of 8.2 tons of ammonium nitrate, a potential explosive used in making makeshift bombs, which led to the jailing for six years of a Lebanese man on June 29.

He admitted being a Hezbollah member but he denied knowledge of plans to attack Israeli interests in Cyprus.

The possible involvement of KYP in mobile monitoring came to light a few days ago when online sites published invoices showing that it had purchased a software program called "Galileo" allowing its users to hack into mobiles and collect data.

Parallel news reports also said that an international investigation showed that one special server running the software used for hacking into mobiles had been set up in Cyprus.

The reports said that the server was one of two operating in the region, the other one being in Egypt. About 320 such servers operate worldwide, according to the reports.

KYP's chief said at the time that he could not comment on the allegations but gave an assurance that its activities were in line with the law.

In a different case possibly involving KYP, a member of parliament wrote a letter to the minister of justice telling him that a claim had been made at a conference of EU parliamentary committees in Brussels about monitoring international telephone lines on behalf of the United States National Security Agency (NSA).

According to the allegations made at the conference, three communication lines passing through a hub in Cyprus were being monitored on behalf of NSA.

KYP commented that it had no knowledge whatsoever but promised to investigate the issue.