NICOSIA, Sept 27 (AFP) - A nationalist Greek Cypriot minister Monday renewed accusations that the breakaway north of the island had become a haven for Chechen "terrorists", adding that they were being funded by unchecked money-laundering and people-trafficking.
Justice Minister Doros Theodorou said he had ordered an intelligence service probe into whether criminal activity in the north was being used to fund training for the Chechens, arch foes of the Greek Cypriots' close ally Russia.
"We have to say that the regime in the north has no interest in preventing international criminal activity," Theodorou told reporters.
"Unregulated casinos and gambling is beyond belief. It's nothing more than a place of money laundering from illegal activities," said the minister from the hardline socialist party EDEK, also pointing to what he said was widespread prostitution.
He said the intelligence service findings would be sent to both the European Union and the United States "so that they know what is going on there."
Theodorou first alleged that Chechen rebels were receiving training in the breakaway north in a newspaper interview Sunday.
His accusations came despite a denial by a government spokesman of similar accusations just a few weeks ago after the school hostage bloodbath in southern Russia.
Greek Cypriot nationalists have been infuriated by international efforts to end the Turkish Cypriots' economic isolation after they voted in favour of a UN reunification blueprint for the island in April that was rejected by the majority community.
The Greek Cypriot authorities have themselves been accused by Ankara in the past of turning a blind eye to the activities of Kurdish "terrorists" of the former Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The government-controlled south also hosts numerous cabaret clubs which are widely alleged to be fronts for prostitution, but casinos are illegal.
The island has been divided since Turkey invaded its northern third in 1974 following a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at union with Greece.