Dimitrios Ioannidis, leader of Greece countercoup, dies at 87

ATHENS, Greece - Dimitrios Ioannidis, the feared security chief who led a countercoup against Greece's military leaders and provoked Turkey's invasion of Cyprus in 1974, has died. He was 87.

Ioannidis, who was jailed for life for his part in the 1967-74 dictatorship, died Monday in an Athens hospital, the justice ministry said.

As head of the brutal ESA military police, Ioannidis was a key figure in the military dictatorship that seized power on April 21, 1967 after years of political instability.

The junta was condemned in the West, and the U.S. temporarily banned arms sales to Greece. But a 1971 visit by Vice President Spiro Agnew, who was of Greek descent, was viewed by many as tacit approval of the dictatorship.

- AP