Israel arrests 6 in plot to kill Bush

Israel arrests men accused of plotting to assassinate Bush

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Occuppied Jerusalem: Israeli investigators have arrested six men suspected of trying to set up a terror network linked to Al Qaida, the Shin Bet security service said in a statement on Friday .

The suspects include a college student who expressed interest in shooting down President George W. Bush's helicopter earlier this year.

The 24-year-old chemistry student lived in an Occupied Jerusalem college dormitory overlooking a helicopter landing pad used by Bush during a visit in January.

Using his cell phone, the student filmed helicopters taking off and landing, and sent a message to a Web forum linked to Al Qaida asking about shooting Bush's helicopter down, according to the Shin Bet.

Two of the men are Arab citizens of Israel, both of them students at Hebrew University in Occupied Jerusalem, according to the statement. The other four are Palestinians.

Investigators found bomb-making instructions on the personal computers of several of the six new suspects, the Shin Bet said.

But the statement gave no indication that the men's activities ever moved beyond the planning stage, and none face charges of active involvement in any attacks.

The men were arrested in June and July, the statement said. But the information was only approved for publication on Friday, the day the men were to be indicted.

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