Indictments were handed down on Friday morning in both the Jerusalem Magistrate’s and District Courts against six Arabs, with two being Israeli citizens, alleged to have planned to build an al-Qaeda infrastructure.

While the arrests were made weeks ago, the gag order was only lifted now, permitting the publication of the ISA (Israel Security Agency – Shin Bet) operation.

One of the cell members, a student at Hebrew University, photographed the heliport on campus used for the president’s helicopter when US President George W. Bush visited Israel. The student, Nazareth resident Mohammed Nijam, sent the photo to al-Qaeda, asking about arranging to shoot down the presidential chopper.

In addition, Shin Bet agents reported that a search of the computers of a number of the suspects revealed they had downloaded instructions on building a bomb.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)