Cyprus police say political motives in powerful publisher’s murder unlikely

Cyprus police: publisher’s murder not political

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Police in Cyprus say that it is unlikely that the assassination of the country’s most powerful publisher was politically motivated.

Andy Hadjicostis, the 41-year-old director of the Dias media group, was gunned down Monday night as he stepped out of his car outside his home in central Nicosia.

Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said on Wednesday that a member of the island’s intelligence service had warned Hadjicostis that his life was in danger.

Katsounotos said the investigation is proceeding in a “specific direction”, but did not elaborate.

The killing stirred fears of rising instability amid a new push by ethnic Greek and Turkish leaders to reunify the war-divided Mediterranean island.