Palestinian plotted to kill Olmert - court papers

JERUSALEM, May 17 (Reuters) Israeli authorities today indicted a Palestinian on suspicion he plotted with a Palestinian militant group to assassinate Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other Israeli officials.

The indictment, obtained by Reuters, said the suspect, Musab Bashir, 25, approached the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which gave him weapons training.

But the document said he abandoned plans to shoot Olmert after deciding security was too tight around what he thought was the prime minister's Jerusalem residence.

In fact, Bashir had mistakenly been keeping the US Consulate, a few short blocks away, under surveillance, the indictment said.

The indictment, filed in Jerusalem's District Court, said Bashir, a Gaza resident, was able to obtain an entry permit to Israel because he worked for the international humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders.

The organisation had no immediate comment.

Bashir also researched Israeli parliament members and planned to kill the director of an Israeli company that purchases homes in Arab East Jerusalem, the indictment said.

Israeli authorities arrested Bashir in April. He was charged today with conspiracy to commit a crime and illegal contact with a foreign agent.

Israeli officials could not immediately say whether Bashir had entered a plea. The indictment did not list the name of his defence attorney.

There was no immediate comment from the PFLP. A militant from the group assassinated right-wing Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi in a Jerusalem hotel in 2001.

REUTERS SKB ND1722