Posted on 12/23/2003 9:27:54 PM PST by Destro
22 Dec 2003 14:32:01 GMT
Security tightened at Cyprus Christian TV station
NICOSIA, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Cyprus has tightened security around a television station beaming Christian programmes into the Middle East after information it could be a terror target, a senior police official said on Monday.
The information was conveyed to Cypriot authorities by foreign intelligence services, deputy police chief Sotiris Charalambous told Reuters.
"In recent days the only specific information we had of a possible terror action was against this...station. We have had no other specific information relating to anything else," Charalambous said.
A Cypriot newspaper reported on Sunday that the purported threat was also against the American and Russian embassies, located next to each other.
The U.S. government raised its domestic terror alert on Sunday to the second highest level due to what it called a high risk of terrorist attacks around the holidays, and called for extra vigilance in regard to U.S. interests abroad as well.
The Christian television station, Sat 7, transmits Christian programmes to the Middle East and has been operating since 1995. Its international offices are based in the Cypriot capital Nicosia.
A representative of the company was not immediately available for comment.
Situated on the edge of the volatile Middle East, Cyprus has not witnessed militant-related violence for at least a decade.
The last major incident was a botched attempt to bomb the Israeli embassy in 1988 in an attack then blamed on the Fatah Revolutionary Council, a radical Palestinian splinter group led by the late Abu Nidal.
Eutelsat W2 at 16 degrees East, an analogue service covering North Africa, Europe, and the Central Middle East (11.178 GHz, Vertical Polarity).
Eutelsat Hot Bird 3 at 13 degrees East, a digital service covering North Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the Arabian Peninsula (12.379 GHz, Vertical Polarity, 27500 symbols/sec, FEC ¾).
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