CONDITIONAL WITNESS ORDER

STATEMENT OF WITNESS
(C.J. Act, 1967, s9; M.C. Act 1980, M.C. Rules 1981, r. 70)

Statement of	 		Phedias SOTERIOU
Age of witness (Date of Birth)	Over 21
Occupation of witness		Detective Constable /159642.
Address				National Drugs Intelligence Unit 
				New Scotland Yard
				London SW1
				Tel 01 230- 2451 ext. 3150

This statement, * consisting of [empty field] pages each signed by 
me, is true to the best of my knowledge and belief and I make it 
knowing that, if it is tendered in evidence, I shall be liable to 
prosecution if I have wilfully stated in it anything which I know to 
be false or do not believe to be true.

Dated the 28th day of September 1987

Signed P Soteriou
Signature Witnessed by [empty field]

I have been asked to listen to three tapes (Exhibits
AD/1, AD/2 and AD/3) and write a resume of their contents.
Exhibit AD/1
This in the recording of a telephone conversation between
Police Superintendent Andreas DEMETRIADES who uses the
name or "Frixos NICOLAIDES", and another man who calls
himself Colonel DIGSBY. This tape is dated 28th April
1987 and timed between 12.15pm and 12.30pm Cyprus time.
DIGSBY rings Andreas DEMETRIADES (Frixos NICOLAIDES), 
and introduces himself.
Mr DEMETRIADES tells him that Mr VOVIDES furnished him
with a document and spoke to him about Colonel DIGSBY.
Mr DEMETRIADES' role allegedly is to liaise with DIGSBY
and advise the President of Cyprus Mr KYPRIANOU.
DIGSBY claims to be an Intelligence Officer with the

British Ministry of Defence. He states that one of his
undercover officers has infiltrated an organisation called
"F.M.", but DIGSBY is unable to take any action against
"F.M." until the "danger" is lifted from Cyprus.
DEMETRIADES:- "Can you tell me what action you are going 
to take against them?"
DIGSBY:- "We are going to try to arrest them under the
International Terrorist Laws, but we cannot do anything
as long as you are in danger. If we arrest them now,
their equipment will automatically activate and Cyprus
will be polluted. It is up to you to eliminate the danger
so that we could take action and recover their.....,
and detain the people involved. You must realise that
you are dealing with a very sophisticated group".
DEMETRIADES:- "That's right...."
DIGSBY:- "There is not much you can do. You can either
pay the reason and the equipment will be de-activated,
Once it is deactivated, we could move against them an
arrest everyone involved. If you do not pay the ransom,
there is a 100% possibility that they will demonstrate
their abilities. They will set off one of their units 
and poison a medium-sized town, and you will run into
enormous problems..... subsequently you will have to
pay 30 million. They don't give up easily".
DEMETRIADES:- "What is your advice on the matter?" 
DIGSBY:- "The advice is logical. What is your Country

worth to you? What are the thousands of people worth
it they are contaminated with this poison. You have
to be prepared to pay the ransom. The chances are that
we will recover that money and.... But you can't seriously
expect to survive that sort of attack that will destroy
your economy and will poison your people for centuries". 
DIGSBY then appears to answer any questions that M. DEMETRIADES 
wishes to raise with him regarding the contents of the
document. Mr DEMETRIADES tells him that he has only glanced
over the document, and will need a few days to study
it properly.
DIGSBY:- "We expect you to receive the payment signal
within the next 3 to 4 days".
DEMETRIADES:- "Your opinion is to tell the President
to pay the ransom? Is this your suggestion?" 
DIGSBY:- "This is the only logical way that you could
handle this problem. What else can you do? Do you have
an alternative?"
DIGSBY then suggests that a search commences in Cyprus
to try and locate the P.I.G. units.
DIGSBY:- "We believe that most of them are buried in
the ground. This has been the case in other countries.
Also you can detect buried in the ground objects, by
using a PROTO-MAGNOMETER [sic] suspended  from a helicopter
flying low to the ground. Another way is to monitor the
frequencies they are on".

DIGSBY then goes on to say that "F.M." are not open to
negotiations.
DIGSBY- "Believe them. If they say they will demonstrate,
they will demonstrate. And, even a simple demonstration
will cost your Country 100 million dollars just to clear
up the mess. They have done this to several other Countries.
in one case they demanded and received 100 million dollars
which makes them very powerful, and gives them unlimited
resources".
DEMETRIADES:- "Do you know which Country this was?"
DIGSBY:- "I am not at liberty to discuss that over the
phone it is known that they are now planning their next
operation on another Country which is not far from you.
What we want to do, is catch them between the time they
de-activate your system, and activate the new system.
We will catch them when they have no power. The usual
way they work in to allow you approximately 4 hours in
which to respond to their demands once they make contact
with you".
DIGSBY then promises to ring again on the following day.
NOTE: It in of interest to note that the way DIGSBY
pronounces the names 'NICOLAIDES' and 'KYPRIANOU', suggests
that he has very good command of the Greek pronunciation.
Exhibit AD/2
This tape contains two conversations between Police
Superintendent Andreas DEMETRIADES Who uses - the name

'Frixos NICOLAIDES', and a man who calls himself DIGSBY. 
The first conversation is dated 29th April, 1987 and
timed between 12.50pm and 13.05. It is of very poor
quality and DIGSBY's voice is almost unreadable.
In this conversation, Mr DEMETRIADES tells DIGSBY that
he is still studying the document, and that he is planning
to divide it into two categories. (1) Chemical & Biological
and (2) Electronic & Technological. He wants to consult
Chemist, Biochemists, Electronic Engineers and computer
experts as well as Meteorologists in order to find out
that the system described in the document is "feasible".
He wants to be satisfied that it is "Feasible" before
persuading the President to pay out the ransom. He also
explains the laws in Cyprus prohibiting large amounts
of monies to leave Cyprus. Also, he claims that there
is not such an amount available in Cyprus in dollars.
The second conversation is about DI-TOX-B7.
DEMETRIADES:- "What is your opinion about DI-TOX-B7?" 
DIGSBY:- "DI-TOX is a very nasty chemical weapon. If
it is used against you, the result will be permanent.
Has NEMO made his ultimatum yet?"
DEMETRIADES:- "I don't know."
DIGSBY then claims that he knows of a Cypriot who is
an expert in these matters and offers to locate him and
ask him to contact Mr DEMETRIADES.
There follows conversation regarding "Mustard Gas".

DIGSBY claims that it can be easily manufactured by anyone.
DEMETRIADES:- "It, the money was paid, how could we be
sure.... to locate these devices and deactivate them
safely?"
DIGSBY:- "Everyone that they have carried out this operation,
the payment has been made, and the people have been spared".
DIGSBY tells Mr DEMETRIADES that he in of the opinion
Cyprus should pay the ransom.
The above conversation is dated 5th May, 1987 and timed
between 12.50pm-13.00 hrs.
Exhibit AD/3
This tape contains the conversation between a man who
calls himself Colonel DIGSBY and Police Superintendent
Andreas DEMETRIADES who uses the name "Frixos NICOLAIDES".
DIGSBY tells NICOLAIDES that he has managed to locate
the Cypriot who apparently is an independent self made
millionaire with business interests in many fields.
He - Allegedly is a little eccentric. He is in fact a
genius. He speaks your language. He knows your Country.
He has been travelling in Europe for the last three weeks
staying in 5 Star hotels.
DIGSBY:- "We have finally tracked him down. We have said
nothing to him yet. All we will say to him is 'Please
contact Mr NICOLAIDES and he will brief you. There is
a project that may be of interest to you'. We'll leave
the rest entirely to you".

The rest of the conversation is mainly about the "Cypriot"
DIGSBY wants to introduce to Mr NICOLAIDES, his virtues
and abilities.
The above conversation is dated 6th May, 1987 and timed
between 09.50am - 10.17am.

Signed P Soteriou
Signature Witnessed by [empty field]

Notes:

1. The notes to this and other tape summaries by this witness appear at the end of pages 503-525.