Israel: Gunmen Planned to Kill Olmert

10/21/2007

JERUSALEM (AP) - Palestinian gunmen planned to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert when he went to the West Bank in August to meet with the Palestinian president, a security chief told Israel's Cabinet on Sunday, a meeting participant said.

Shin Bet security police director Yuval Diskin said gunmen loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement planned to attack Olmert's convoy as it entered the West Bank town of Jericho on Aug. 6. Israel notified Palestinian authorities and they arrested an unspecified number of Fatah militants, the participant said.

It was not clear why Israel, whose military operates freely in the West Bank, left it up to Palestinian security sources to apprehend would-be assassins if they thought Olmert's life was in danger - or why they allowed the trip to proceed.

Although the men admitted they planned the attack, the Palestinian Authority released them last week, said the meeting participant, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose details of closed-door meetings.

Olmert's office has protested their release to Abbas, he said. But Tawfiq Tirawi, the Palestinian intelligence chief, denied they were freed.

Another Palestinian security official confirmed that Israel notified the Palestinian Authority that a militant cell planned to target Olmert, and that an unspecified number of militants were arrested. But he said that while the gunmen said they considered attacking the Israeli leader, they had no operational plan.

An Israeli government spokeswoman had no immediate information on the assassination plot, and it was not clear how close the militants got to carrying it out. It also was not clear why Israel waited 2 1/2 months to disclose the alleged assassination plan.

While Abbas oversees the official Palestinian security forces, he has little control over pro-Fatah armed groups, which frequently act counter to his efforts to reconcile Israel and the Palestinians.

The meeting was Olmert's first with Abbas on Palestinian soil after seven years of bloody fighting, and the location was seen as significant as the content.

Israeli and Palestinian security forces worked together to protect the Israeli leader, and Abbas gained some stature by hosting Olmert. Every other meeting has been held at Olmert's Jerusalem residence.