Athens, June 20 (IANS/DPA) Cyprus on Thursday rejected threats made by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who warned the EU island nation against cooperating with the Israeli military in a fiery speech the day before.
Should Cyprus make its airports and military bases available to the Israeli military, it would "become part of the war", Nasrallah said.
But the Cypriot government said Nasrallah's statements were divorced from the truth.
"The insinuations made by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah do not correspond to reality," Cyprus government spokesman Konstantinos Letybiotis said on Cypriot broadcaster RIK.
"Nasrallah's statements are unpleasant, and we will take all steps at the diplomatic level."
In recent years, Israeli and Cypriot media had repeatedly reported that special units of the Israeli army had travelled to Cyprus to practice counter-terrorism tactics together with Cypriot units.
The situation between Lebanon and Israel has deteriorated. There are increasing concerns that the daily cross-border clashes between the Israeli military and the Hezbollah militia are on the verge of expanding.
Israel's military approved plans for an offensive in Lebanon on Tuesday, raising concerns about an escalation. On Wednesday, Hezbollah said at least three of its members were killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.
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