NICOSIA, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus said on Saturday that it did not have either prior information or involvement in air strikes against Syria by planes which took off from a British base on the eastern Mediterranean island.

The strikes were launched from Britain's air base at Akrotiri next to the southern port city of Limassol.

Flowers growing on a barrier made of barrels on the green line, a UN controlled buffer zone separating the divided Cypriot capital Nicosia. (Photo: AFP)

Four tornado planes, which took off from the air base close to 4 a.m. local time, fired Storm Shadow missiles, which, according to the British Ministry of Defense, were guided to their targets near Homs by pre-programmed GPS co-ordinates.

Cypriot government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou hinted that the British authorities did not follow past practice of notifying beforehand the government about military action launched from the bases in neighboring countries.

"Cyprus did not have any participation in this operations...The authorities of the Republic of Cyprus have been monitoring the situation from the first moment, but did not have any prior briefing," he said.

Prodromou said in a written statement that neither the Cypriot air space nor its Flight Information Region (FIR) were used in the military operation.

He also said that conditions of full security prevail in Cyprus and that no civil aviation flights were disturbed by the early morning military action.

"We hope that it will subsequently be possible for military operations to be avoided in Syria, and that sources of danger in this neighboring country will be addressed with peaceful means and through dialogue," he added.

Cypriot largest opposition party Akel said that the government was not entitled to involve Cyprus in any way "in the crime against the people of Syria".

The party said in a statement that it condemns all forms of interference in the interior affairs of Syria. It described the air strikes as illegal and a "violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria". 

Akrotiri air base is one of two sovereign bases Britain retained when Cyprus gained its independence in 1960.