News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Defense Minister Ehud Barak has confirmed reports that Israeli security and intelligence agents have foiled attempts by Hizbullah terrorists to kidnap Israelis abroad. "There have been quite a few intelligence alerts in recent weeks, and there were a number of very important thwarting operations," he told reporters Wednesday.

A western African country and a community with a large Lebanese expatriate community were mentioned by security sources as areas where alert warnings were issued last month, Reuters reported. Hizbullah has openly threatened to kidnap or assassinate Israelis abroad, in revenge for the killing of its mastermind terrorist Imad Mughniyeh earlier this year. Israel has denied involvement in the car bombing that killed him in a Damascus parking lot.