Israel makes arrests in alleged plot against Bush
Fri Jul 18, 6:30 AM ET
Toronto, Globe and Mail
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel accused six Arabs
on Friday of trying to set up an al Qa'eda cell in
Israel and said one of them had proposed attacking
helicopters used during a visit by President George
W. Bush.
Israel's ****n Bet counter-intelligence agency said
one of the suspects had used his mobile phone to
film helicopters at a s****ts stadium in Jerusalem
that was used as a landing site for Bush's
delegation.
The suspect then posted queries on Web sites
frequented by al Qa'eda operatives, asking for
guidance on how to shoot down the helicopters,
the agency said in a statement.
Bush visited Israel in January and again in May.
Lawyers for the six suspects could not
immediately be reached for comment.
The ****n Bet identified four of the suspects as
Palestinian residents of Arab East Jerusalem and
two as Israeli Arabs.
The ****n Bet said the men had met several times
at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque, seeking to
organize a local al Qa'eda network. The agency
said computers seized from several of the suspects
contained bomb-making manuals.
Earlier this month, Israel indicted two of its
Bedouin Arab citizens for links to al Ma'ida and
for planning attacks inside the Jewish state.
(Re****ting by Avida Landau; Editing by Catherine Evans)
