Israel says it breaks up terror plot aimed at Bush
Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008 12:12 PM ET
By Pete Williams, NBC News Justice Correspondent
Israel's security service says it has arrested six men suspected of forming a terror cell sympathetic to al-Qaida. And it says one of the men talked about trying to shoot down a helicopter carrying President Bush on a visit to the region.
U.S. officials say the arrests in Israel are the result of an Israeli investigation and that officials there kept the U.S. government informed. They say the U.S. was notified when Israeli investigators realized that one of the members of the suspected cell used a cell phone to make videos of helicopters taking off and landing, and commented on an internet site about attacking President Bush's helicopter. But the Bush aspect is only part of the broader Israeli investigation.
Two of the six men, the Israelis say, are students at Jerusalem's Hebrew University and are Arab citizens of Israel, from Nazareth. The four others are Palestinians from East Jerusalem. Investigators say several of the men had bomb-making instructions on their computers. All were arrested in June and July, but Israeli officials are only now making the arrests public.
The Israelis say one of the students lived in a dormitory room with a view of a helicopter landing zone at the campus stadium used by President Bush during a visit to Israel in early January. They say the man used his cell phone to make videos of helicopters taking off and landing. Then, officials say, the student posted comments on an al-Qaida-related chat room, asking for information about how to shoot down the president's helicopter, presumably when Mr. Bush returned in May for Israel's independence day.
But investigators say none of the men had any weapons, were not actually planning any attacks, and that their activities never got beyond the discussion stage.
