Palestinian gunmen intended 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 chief Yuval Diskin said gunmen from 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 activists, the participant said, according to the AP.
Although the men "admitted" they planned the attack, the Palestinian Authority freed them last week, said the meeting participant. Olmert's office has protested their release to Abbas, he added. But Tawfiq Tirawi, the Palestinian intelligence chief, denied they were freed.
Another Palestinian security official confirmed that Israel notified the Palestinian Authority that a fatah cell planned to target Olmert, and that an unspecified number of activistts were arrested. But he said that while the gunmen said they considered attacking the Israeli leader, they had no operational plan.
