Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou said Thursday that Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou Marcoullis has given instructions for a probe on the reliability of reports in the British press regarding the use of British Bases in Cyprus towards the unfolding conflict in Syria. 

 “The Minister has instructed the High Commissioner of the Republic in London to have contacts with the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office to investigate if what is published, based on statements made ​​by British officials, is well founded or not. We expect to get answers,” Stephanou said after a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, replying to questions.

 According to a “Sunday Times” report, British military bases in Cyprus are being used to provide intelligence to Syrian rebels in their struggle with forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad. The newspaper claimed that British intelligence was helping Syrian rebels launch successful attacks on government forces with information gathered from their listening posts in the British Bases. The report quoted an unnamed Syrian official as saying British spies, based in Cyprus, gather the intelligence then pass it on to Turkish and American sources and the Turkish sources then pass on the intelligence to Syrian insurgents.

 Britain retains two sovereign military bases in Cyprus since the island gained its independence from British colonial rule in 1960.