Police broaden Zoniana inquiry
A senior Interior Ministry official has denied reports that the anti-terrorist squad has been sent to the Cretan village of Zoniana but added that police are looking into all options as part of investigations. Local press reports quoted Deputy Interior Minister Panayiotis Hinofotis as saying yesterday that claims police are looking for weapons used in January’s attack against the US Embassy «are not valid.» «Police are obliged to extend their investigation in all directions but not in the way that is being talked about regarding different findings and anti-terrorist personnel,» he said. Police investigations after last week’s ambush that seriously injured a police officer have uncovered guns, dynamite and cannabis- and cocaine-processing workshops in the mountain village. On Tuesday, Supreme Court prosecutor Giorgos Sanidas asked a Cretan appeals court prosecutor to re-examine all drug-trafficking cases filed since 1995 and check whether any suspects linked to the ambush are wanted on other drugs-related charges. Crete’s local prosecutor has been asked to check the backgrounds of all those arrested in connection with the attack. Sanidas has also called for a probe into allegations concerning «political protection for the Zoniana mafia» and claims of possible police links with local criminals.
