The Israeli authorities are keeping mum. But Israeli news organizations have sent a flock of reporters to Cyprus, where four Israeli nationals were arrested this week, allegedly trying to tap the telephone wires of the Iranian Embassy in Nicosia, the Cypriot capital.
A Cypriot court ordered the two men and two women held in custody for eight days, pending formal charges. But according to the Israeli press, Cyprus has no law against wiretapping. At most, they could be tried for “loitering” and deported, the newspapers said.
The four ware discovered in the basement of the building housing the embassy, allegedly in possession of burglary tools, pliers, wire-cutters and a transistor radio.
Israeli newspapers, quoting foreign sources, said the four were operatives of Mossad, the Israeli secret service, who bungled an attempt to bug the Iranian telephones to gather information about Iranian-backed terrorist groups in Lebanon holding Israelis hostage.
Reports from Cyprus said the accused claimed to be tourists. They were registered at separate hotels.
They said they entered the basement of the embassy building in search of toilet facilities when one of the women took sick.
The court released the names of the four suspects Thursday, in Greek. They are Dabi Dave, Ran Souf, Anna Dolgin and Amit Litvin.
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