A military memorial service memorial service was held in Nicosia on Friday (4 April) for a Canadian officer serving with the United Nations' peace-keeping force on the island.

He was 29-year-old Captain Ian Patten, who was killed by a stray bullet during Monday night's (I April) exchange of fire between Greek and Turkish Cypriot forces in Nicosia.

During the fighting -- said to have been started by Greek Cypriots firing random shots into the air to mark the 20th anniversary of the EOKA querrilla uprising against British colonial rule -- two Greek Cypriot civilians were wounded.

It was the most serious breach of the fragile ceasefire agreement along the "Green Line" separating the two communities, which was set up following Turkey's invasion of the island last July.

Automatic rifles, machine guns and mortars were fired during the two-hour battle, during which the commander of the Finnish contingent -- Colonel Y. Pullen -- narrowly escaped death when a bullet passed through his jacket.