German Peacekeepers Attacked on Cyprus Night Out
Four private security guards were remanded in police custody in Cyprus on Monday on suspicion of assaulting a group of German U.N. peacekeepers they accused of misbehaving in a bar in a seaside resort.
A dozen German naval personnel — two of them women — suffered cuts and bruises after they were attacked with metal bars, bats and pieces of wood by a number of uniformed security guards.
Police said that around 20 people were involved in the fracas early Sunday outside the pub in the southern port of Limassol where German members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) maritime task force are based.
Although they received medical attention, none of them were seriously injured.
Four men aged between 22 and 38 appeared before a Limassol district court on Monday where they were remanded in police custody for three days to help with enquiries.
They face charges of assault and inflicting actual bodily harm, police said.
The men told police they were ordered to eject the Germans from the pub as they were causing a disturbance and annoying other drinkers.
However, they deny taking part in any violence outside on the street.
The German embassy in Nicosia said it had "every trust" in the police proceedings but said the matter was one for UNIFIL to address.
The U.N. Security Council resolution which ended the devastating 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah expanded the three decade old UNIFIL force and added a naval component to prevent arms smuggling.