MIDDLE EAST:A group of Palestinian militants, including several members of the Palestinian Authority security services, planned to assassinate Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert as he travelled in the West Bank earlier this year, the head of Israel's secret service told cabinet ministers yesterday.
Palestinian prime minister Salaam Fayyad confirmed that three men had been arrested after information about the plot had been passed to Palestinian officials. Mr Fayyad said the three men had been released recently after being held for three months.
"The interrogation did not reveal anything that looked to be imminently dangerous," he said yesterday.
According to Israeli security officials, the militants planned to fire on Mr Olmert's convoy as he entered the West Bank town of Jericho for talks with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in August. Three of the men said to have been involved in the plot were part of the security detail supposed to be securing his visit.