Israel Arrests 12 Suspects In Kidnap Plot

JERUSALEM — Israel has arrested 12 members of a cell that planned to kidnap American citizens, Israeli security officials said yesterday.

The cell from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a PLO faction, hoped to demand release of their leader, Ahmed Saadat, who is in an Israeli prison after his group claimed responsibility for assassinating an Israeli Cabinet minister.

The cell also planned to attack a synagogue in Modiin, a town of 60,000 between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the statement said. The cell's leader, Rasmi Shawarne of Kfar Dura, used his job as a construction worker in Modiin to gather information about the town.

Mr. Saadat, the imprisoned leader, heads the PFLP. In 2001, gunmen from Mr. Saadat's faction assassinated an Israeli Cabinet minister, Rehavam Zeevi, in a Jerusalem hotel.

Israel's attorney general determined that there was not enough evidence to indict Mr. Saadat in the assassination, but Mr. Saadat is being held on other security charges.