国际英语新闻：Cyprus police identify the remains of former president Tassos Papadopoulos

NICOSIA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus police confirmed Tuesday that remains found the night before belong to ex-President Tassos Papadopoulos.

The remains were stolen from his grave in a cemetery near the capital Nicosia about three months ago.

"DNA examinations were completed during the night and it has been confirmed that the remains are those of ex-President Tassos Papadopoulos," said police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos.

The police were led by an anonymous telephone call to a cemetery near Nicosia where they found the remains.

Meanwhile, investigators went to a telephone booth in the Nicosia suburb of Tseri looking for fingerprints and other evidence which may lead to the man who made the call.

Cypriot forensic experts inspect the dug-out grave of former Cypriot president Tassos Papadopoulos in the village of Deftera on the outskirts of Nicosia in 2009. Cypriot authorities have found the body of Papadopoulos three months after it was snatched from his grave on the Mediterranean island, state-run media reported on Monday

The remains of Papadopoulos were stolen from another cemetery not far away from the one where they were found.

The stealing of the remains took place on the night of Dec. 11 last year, one day before the first anniversary of his death. The culprits had dug up his grave and removed the bones from the casket, carefully covering up the earth with gypsum to cover their tracks.

The police spokesman refused to go into the details of the case, pending completion of police investigations.

A police source told Xinhua that the telephone call was made from a booth to a member of Papadopoulos' family.

Several members of his family rushed to the darkened cemetery last night, almost before the arrival of the police. Papadopoulos' daughter, Anastasia, a lawyer, was seen leaving the area in tears after police found the remains.

The police have not yet come up with an official theory as to the motives behind the snatching of the remains.

The police source said the most probable explanation it that the culprits were aiming at ransom but they lost their nerve.

"We were very near to cracking the case. They felt the breath of the police over their neck and hurried to get rid of the remains," the police source told Xinhua.

The remains were hidden in the grave of a man who had been buried about a year before.

"There are indications that the remains were put there very recently. The culprits just dug a shallow hole and put them under a thin layer of soil,"the source said.

The family of the ex-President expressed relief following the recovery of his remains. His widow Fotini said tranquility has returned to the family.

However, the family reacted angrily at a statement by the Justice Minister, who is also the political head of police, that the culprits had demanded ransom from the family for the return of the ex-President's remains.

"The family has neither received a ransom demand nor paid any ransom," said a family spokesman.

The minister retorted that he stands by his initial statement that a ransom demand had been made to the family.

Papadopoulos served a five-year term as President of Cyprus, from February 2003 to February 2008, when he lost to his former coalition Partner Demetris Christofias.

He died 10 months later of cancer, at the age of 74.

Papadopoulos was considered a hardliner on the Cyprus problem, dismissing a solution which he said gave too much to the Turkish Cypriot community.

News about the motives of the culprits has brought relief among the Cyprus society. Many people had been expressing concern that the motives might be political.

While president, Tassos Papadopoulos led a campaign in April 2004, which culminated in the rejection of a United Nations blueprint for a solution to the Cyprus problem by a 76 majority of Greek Cypriots. The vote had also brought about a deep political split, with the ex-President insinuating that those who had voted in favor of the plan were less patriotic.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey militarily intervened and occupied the north of the island following a coup by a group of Greek officers.

Negotiations are now under way between President Christofias, a Greek Cypriot, and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat to reach a peace settlement.