Icon taken out of Cyprus by British officer in 1974 returned to Orthodox Church

General view of Nicosia in Cyprus (Andrew Matthews/PA)

An 18th-century icon that a British officer spirited out of war-wracked Cyprus in 1974 was returned on Wednesday to the island’s Orthodox Church by the officer’s son to reunite it with those “who really appreciate what it stands for”.

A representative of the Cyprus Archbishop Chrysostomos II received the icon during a ceremony at Geneva’s Villa Moynier which houses the Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.