British intelligence and military officials fear that a luxury hotel in Cyprus could be used as a hub for spying on the nearby Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri, The Telegraph reports. According to the newspaper, intelligence and military sources believe foreign spies may have used the City of Dreams resort to monitor activity at the base.
“For the wealthy guests who frequent its casino and swimming pools, the City of Dreams Mediterranean in Limassol is nothing more than a luxury hotel. However, British security officials fear that the sprawling 15-acre complex could host guests with a deeper agenda than tanning and dining in its various gourmet restaurants,” the British newspaper points out.
“The Chinese-owned hotel – just a stone’s throw from the walls of Britain’s military complex in Cyprus – allows guests to have a panoramic view of one of the UK’s most critical overseas bases,” the report says.
“Several intelligence and military sources have said they fear foreign spies could have used the City of Dreams – which the Telegraph visited this month – as an observation post.”
RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus is the UK’s main base and operations center in the Middle East, and its strategic importance has been further enhanced by the new escalation in the region.
RAF Akrotiri
According to the Royal Air Force official page, RAF Akrotiri is home of the Cyprus Operations Support Unit which provides joint support to British Forces Cyprus and operations in the region to protect the UK’s strategic interests.
RAF Akrotiri is an extremely busy Permanent Joint Operating Base that supports ongoing operations in the region as well as support for the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus. It is used as a forward mounting base for overseas operations in the Middle East and for fast jet training.
RAF Akrotiri’s Griffin helicopters also play an important search and rescue function in collaboration with the Republic of Cyprus Police and National Guard Air Command.
The UK base was hit during the USA/Israel-Iran War
On March 1, RAF Akrotiri base close to the Cyprus luxury hotel was hit by a loitering munition during the USA/Israel-Iran war. On the same day and March 4, additional drones were launched towards Cyprus but they were intercepted. Cyprus’ Foreign Affairs Minister Constantinos Kombos claimed the drone was an Iranian-manufactured Shahed-type and launched from Lebanon.
On March 4, F-16 fighters of the Hellenic Air Force intercepted two drones in Lebanese airspace headed towards Cyprus. The UK has another sovereign base on the island in Dhekelia.
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