JERUSALEM: Israel has charged two Palestinian employees of the British consulate in Jerusalem with arms trafficking for Hamas as part of an investigation into an alleged plot to attack a stadium.
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News of the British connection emerged after Israel's Shin Bet security service said it had arrested five men charged with membership of a terrorist group and arms trafficking.
But the British Foreign Office said on Monday the consulate had been informed by the Israeli authorities that the charges had ''no connection'' with the men's jobs as maintenance workers at offices in the east Jerusalem suburb of Sheikh Jarrah.
Britain's consulate-general serves as a de facto embassy to the Palestinian Authority, which is based in the nearby West Bank town of Ramallah. The British embassy to Israel is in Tel Aviv.
Israeli police said the two men were indicted recently on weapons charges in connection with an alleged plot by two other Palestinians to launch a rocket attack at Teddy Stadium in Jewish west Jerusalem.
The Shin Bet said the consulate employees helped the two other suspects, alleged members of Hamas, who were charged in court on Sunday, to obtain guns.
No rockets were found by the authorities, who said the plot had been in its preliminary stages.
Guardian News & Media
