Ex-Cyprus Defense Minister Found Guilty of Manslaughter for 2011 Munitions Blast

Blast killed 13

A former Cypriot defense minister was found guilty of manslaughter on Tuesday over a deadly munitions blast two years ago that killed 13 people and crippled the economy in the island's worst peacetime disaster.

A court ruled that Costas Papacostas, who served in the former communist government, bore direct responsibility for a sequence of failures to safeguard a cargo of confiscated Iranian munitions that exploded in the early hours of July 11, 2011.