Secret intelligence documents, copies of which were recently leaked to the press, claiming that convicted drug smuggler Apostolos Vavilis was a foreign agent, were illicitly removed from state archives and destroyed five years ago, the Public Order Ministry said yesterday.

A National Intelligence Service probe revealed that the documents, dating from 1996, were burnt on March 13, 2000. However, checks found that the proper procedures were not followed and authorities are now investigating further.

Meanwhile, the Bishopric of Leros, Kalymnos and Astypalaia issued a statement denying that Bishop Nektarios had resigned yesterday due to alleged links to Vavilis. The denial contradicted an earlier comment from Dodecanese prefect Yiannis Mahairidis. Nektarios falls under the jurisdiction of Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios, rather than Archbishop Christodoulos, who was alleged to have known Vavilis.

Kalinikos, Bishop of Piraeus, yesterday told the Holy Synod of the Greek Church that he rejected allegations claiming he sexually molested a cantor 13 years ago.