Cyprus court detains Syrian suspected of migrant trafficking

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A Cyprus court has ordered a six-day detention for a Syrian man suspected of illegally bringing 21 Syrian migrants to the east Mediterranean island nation via boat. Police said Saturday the 52-year-old man was arrested after the migrants identified him as the captain of the small boat that had departed from Tartus, Syria. A Cyprus police patrol vessel intercepted the boat off the island’s southeastern tip. The migrants, who included two women and six children aged between 2 and 10, were taken to a migrant reception center on the outskirts of the capital, Nicosia. Cyprus authorities say the island remains among the European Union member countries with the highest per-capita number of asylum-seekers.