Israel: Militants Plotted to Kill Olmert
Pastor Dale Morgan
Oct 21, 2:35 PM EDT
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Israel: Militants Plotted to Kill Olmert*
By JOSEF FEDERMAN
Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli officials on Sunday said they foiled a recent
attempt by Palestinian militants to assassinate Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert during a trip to the West Bank and warned the plot could hurt
prospects for an upcoming U.S.-hosted Mideast peace conference.
Palestinian officials said Olmert was never in imminent danger and
accused Israel of trying to exploit the plot to hinder progress before
the summit.
Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have been trying to
hammer out a joint document outlining their common vision for a future
peace agreement. They hope to present the document at the peace
conference, which is expected to take place in Annapolis, Md., in
November or December.
But negotiations have made little headway, and Olmert has come under
heavy Palestinian pressure to make concessions ahead of the summit.
Palestinians said Israel's decision to disclose the assassination plot,
more than three months after it was uncovered, appeared to be aimed at
heading off the pressure.
"It clouds the atmosphere of the conference," Olmert said before leaving
on a trip to France. "Israel views this with great severity."
Israel has long said peace efforts cannot progress until the
Palestinians crack down on militant groups. Israeli officials said they
were especially upset that Palestinian security forces released three
suspects arrested in the plot, though two of the men were subsequently
re-arrested.
The assassination plot was disclosed to the Israeli Cabinet by Yuval
Diskin, director of the Shin Bet internal security agency.
According to meeting participants, Diskin said Palestinian gunmen had
planned to attack Olmert's convoy as it entered the West Bank town of
Jericho on Aug. 6 for a meeting with Abbas. Diskin told the Cabinet the
gunmen were linked to Abbas' Fatah movement, said the participants, who
spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.
While Abbas oversees official Palestinian security forces, he has little
control over extremist armed groups, including those loyal to Fatah,
which frequently act counter to his efforts to reconcile Israel and the
Palestinians.
Diskin did not say how close the militants were to carrying out the
plot, and it was not clear why Olmert was allowed to proceed on his trip
if there was a threat to his life.
In Jerusalem, Palestinian Prime Minster Salam Fayyad played down the
incident, saying Olmert was never seriously threatened. He said three
suspects were arrested, and only released after three months of questioning.
"The interrogation did not reveal according to our security services
anything that was imminently dangerous," he said. Nonetheless,
Palestinian officials said they re-arrested two of the men last week
under Israeli pressure.
"We are trying the very best we can to bring law and order to the
cities, villages and areas that are under our control," Fayyad said,
rejecting Israeli claims of a "revolving door" policy of arresting and
releasing militants.
Fayyad was in Jerusalem to meet with a group of Israeli lawmakers.
Israeli officials said the meeting was moved from Jericho to Jerusalem
because of security concerns.
Palestinian officials accused Israel of exaggerating the seriousness of
the incident to divert attention away from the troubled preparations for
the upcoming Mideast conference. Hard-line members of Olmert's coalition
have threatened to bring down his government if he makes too many
concessions to the Palestinians at the summit.
"This is one more attempt to put obstacles in the way to the fall
conference," said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Abbas.
Olmert and Abbas have held a series of meetings to restart peace efforts
and prepare for the conference. The Jericho meeting was the only time
they have met on Palestinian soil and was meant as a gesture to boost
Abbas' stature with his people.
The Palestinians have said there is no point to holding the conference
unless it deals seriously with contentious issues that have hindered
past peace talks.
They include final borders, Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the
status of disputed Jerusalem and a solution for Palestinian refugees.
Olmert has said the preparatory document should be much more general.
"The meeting is not intended to lead in and of itself to an agreement or
to a historic breakthrough," he told the Cabinet Sunday.