The World - News from May 17, 1987

A London court ordered four persons held without bail for allegedly threatening to release deadly dioxin gas over Cyprus unless the Cypriot government paid a $15-million ransom. Scotland Yard identified the four as Kika Koupparis, 27; her husband, Panos, 35, and his brothers, Andre, 23, and Jason, 18. All are thought to be British nationals of Greek-Cypriot descent. In Nicosia, Cyprus, meanwhile, a judge released a fifth suspect, Thekla Andrea Hallouma, 21, a sister of the Koupparis woman, on grounds of insufficient evidence. Cypriot police said the gang threatened in a letter sent from London to President Spyros Kyprianou to release dioxin over Cyprus “by radio-controlled devices” if the ransom were not paid.