Thread: Israel: Al Qaeda-linked suspect may have targeted Bush

Israel: Al Qaeda-linked suspect may have targeted Bush

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli authorities have arrested six Arabs suspected of trying to build an al Qaeda-linked cell -- including one person who allegedly asked about targeting President Bush's helicopter.


A helicopter that was part of a convoy carrying President Bush lands in Israel in January.

Shin Bet, Israel's security service, said in a news release that a 24-year-old student of Hebrew University in Jerusalem decided in January to try to attack a helicopter of a senior official landing on a helipad, and took video of the helipad with a cell phone. Bush used that helipad -- near the dormitories at the university's Givat Ram campus -- during a visit in January, it said.

The student, identified as Muhammad Najam, allegedly turned to an Internet forum identified with al Qaeda and asked about the possibility of targeting an aircraft carrying Bush, Shin Bet said.

There was no immediate public statement on Najam's behalf.

Shin Bet said the six people arrested have been indicted on various charges, including membership in a terrorist organization.

The six include two Israeli Arabs and four Palestinians from East Jerusalem, all "suspected of planning to set up an al Qaeda-linked infrastructure," the news release said.

The suspects used the Internet to go to radical Islamic Web sites, including some identified with al Qaeda, it said, adding that the computers of some of those arrested had been used to download from the Internet instructions for preparing bombs.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/07/ ... index.html

Oh my! He left the White House, DC

Get security on ready, now