Cyprus president to blame for deadly July blast, says inquiry

A one-man independent inquiry concluded that Cyprus President Demetris Christofias is "mainly" to blame for negligence leading to the blast of poorly-stored munitions on July 11 that destroyed the island’s largest power station killing 13 seamen and firefighters.
Former Defence and Foreign ministers Costas Papacostas and Markos Kyprianou also took a share of the blame for the events that triggered a crisis leading to speculation that the country could be the fourth recipient of an EU bailout. This could also lead to a political crisis as Cyprus is set to take over the EU presidency on July 1, 2012 and head for presidential elections in February 2013.
"The President of the Republic in this case failed to take elementary measures for the security of Cyprus's citizens. In this case I am not referring just to institutional responsibility. In this case I apportion serious, and very heavy personal responsibility," investigator Polys Polyviou told a news conference.
Polyviou's findings are non-binding, but he said that he has already discussed the conclusions of his criminal inquiry with the Attorney General.
Polyviou said that from the onset, United Nations inspectors had wanted to view the contents of the 98 containers laden with arms shipped by Iran and headed for Syria in early 2009 that were confiscated by Cyprus authorities. However, he said that communications and responsibilities deteriorated after that, resulting in the poor handling and storage of the shipment, which he described as “highly explosive” from the bgiining.