An Arab resident of Rafah in the Gaza Strip was detained by order of a Tel Aviv magistrate yesterday as a suspect in a plot to attack the U.S. Embassy here. He was remanded in custody for three days pending further investigation by police.
He is the seventh suspect in the plot. Six other Gaza Strip residents were detained several weeks ago. News of the arrests and of the alleged plot was barred from the Israeli press by court order until this week, although widely published abroad. The ban was lifted Sunday.
The six men detained earlier are said to have confessed. The latest detainee admitted he had been with the group but denied he was part of any plan to attack the Embassy. Foreign media accounts quoted Police Minister Haim Barlev as saying the plot did not constitute a serious threat, although the Embassy was informed and tighter security measures were instituted, including the construction of a wall around the American compound.
The foreign press reports said Barlev described the suspects as a group of Arab youths who had possession of a grenade and were contemplating targets, one of which was the Embassy.
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