2007-10-21

JERUSALEM (AP) - Palestinian militants plotted to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert when he traveled to the West Bank in August to meet with the Palestinian president, Israeli officials said Sunday.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Olmert's life was never seriously in danger. He said Palestinian security arrested three men after Israel passed on intelligence reports about the plot, but after holding them for three months released them for lack of evidence.

The reported plot, with its implicit criticism of President Mahmoud Abbas' inability to control Palestinian militants, came to light as Israel and the Palestinians are negotiating the outlines of a peace agreement in time for an upcoming U.S.-sponsored Mideast conference.

Olmert is under heavy Palestinian pressure to make concessions ahead of the summit. Key members of his governing coalition have threatened to pull out of his government if Olmert goes too far.

Israel Army Radio cited Olmert as saying he would attend the summit despite the assassination plot and the release of the arrested men. ``Israel won't look the other way, but we won't halt the dialogue,'' he was quoted as saying.

In his Cabinet testimony Sunday, Shin Bet security police director Yuval Diskin said gunmen linked to Abbas' Fatah movement planned to attack Olmert's convoy as it entered the West Bank town of Jericho on Aug. 6. Despite his peace efforts, Abbas has struggled to maintain control of pro-Fatah armed groups roaming the West Bank.

Upon learning of the assassination plan, Israel notified Palestinian authorities, who arrested three militants. Two others are in Israeli custody in connection, Israel Radio reported. Some of the five are members of Palestinian security forces, Israeli media reported.

It was not clear why Israel, whose military operates freely in the West Bank, left it 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.

Diskin did not say how close the militants got to carrying out the plot, a Cabinet meeting participant said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose details of closed-door meetings.

A government official said Israel decided to disclose word of the plot because the Palestinians had released the suspects. He, too, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose a confidential intelligence report.

Olmert's office has protested the men's release to Abbas.

In a related matter, Israel said a meeting Sunday between the parliament Speaker Dalia Itzik and Fayyad was moved from Jericho to Jerusalem because of security concerns.

Arriving in Jerusalem for the meeting, Fayyad said Palestinian investigators who questioned the three men arrested in the affair concluded there was nothing ``imminently dangerous'' and released them.

He also promised his best to rein in West Bank militants.

``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.

The meeting in Jericho 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 at that meeting. Every other meeting has been held at Olmert's Jerusalem residence.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who heads the Israeli team negotiating with the Palestinians ahead of the U.S. conference, knew of the plot before Sunday's Cabinet meeting, and was troubled by the release of the arrested men, ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.

``She says clearly, if we do succeed ... implementation is dependent on the Palestinians' meeting their obligations under the 'road map','' Regev said.

The U.S.-backed road map peace plan broke down shortly after it was presented in June 2003 because both sides failed to meet initial milestones: Israel continued to build in West Bank settlements, and the Palestinian Authority did not disarm militant groups.

Peacemaking languished for years until Islamic Hamas militants violently seized control of the Gaza Strip in June. Abbas responded by expelling the Islamic group from the Palestinian government.

Shortly after, President Bush announced an international peace conference in an effort to bolster Abbas and re-energize peacemaking.

Palestinians say the meeting must deal 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.

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