Vodafone man's suicide linked to Greek wire-tapping scandal

THE GREEK supreme court prosecutor has said the death of Vodafone's network planning manager in Athens was directly linked to the phone-tapping scandal that has enveloped the country's government and military forces in recent months.

The suicide of Costas Tsalikides and the discovery of listening bugs had a causal connection, said prosecutor Dimitris Linos, according to a story in The Guardian this morning.

"If there had not been the phone tapping, there would not have been a suicide," Linos said.

The scandal surrounds the discovery in February of a network of phone taps placed on mobile phones in periods shortly before and after the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Those tapped are thought to have included the Greek prime minister and a US embassy official. However, it is unclear as to who ordered the bugs and to where information was being relayed.

Tsalikides could have received threats after stumbling upon the equipment, said the lawyer for his family. µ