Man arrested on suspicion of spying in Crete - home to NATO military base

A man has been arrested on suspicion of spying in Crete, which is home to a NATO military base.

Greek police said the 26-year-old Azerbaijani man was detained on Sunday, based on information from the country's intelligence service.

He had been staying in a hotel since 18 June near the naval and air force base in western Crete - a strategic facility for Greece, the US and the NATO military alliance in the eastern Mediterranean.

More than 5,000 photographs and encryption software were found on a laptop that was confiscated, along with other digital equipment, from the hotel room, sources told the Reuters news agency.

Authorities are investigating whether he was monitoring the base in Souda and if the case is linked with the arrest of a British man in Cyprus on Friday on suspicion of espionage and terror offences, the sources said.

The man arrested in Cyprus is reported to have kept RAF Akrotiri - the UK's most important airbase for operations in the Middle East - on the island under surveillance.

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A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed the arrest of a Briton, although local media reports suggested he was Azerbaijani with alleged links with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The man arrested in Crete, who has a Polish passport according to local media reports, is expected to appear before a prosecutor this week.

(c) Sky News 2025: Man arrested on suspicion of spying in Crete - home to NATO military base