Reports: Plot To Kill Israeli Ambassador In Azerbaijan Foiled

January 25, 2012

by RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service

Reports say two Azerbaijani citizens, Rasim Farail Aliyev and Ali Huseynov, have been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to kill the Israeli ambassador to Baku, Michael Lotem, and a teacher and a rabbi at the Chabad Jewish school in the capital.

A third suspect, Balaqardash Dadashov, an Azerbaijani citizen who was apparently living in the Iranian city of Ardabil, is reported still at large.

All three have been charged with smuggling weapons and explosives into Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan's Security Ministry said Dadashov has connections to Iranian intelligence agencies that allegedly promised to pay the three Azerbaijanis $150,000 to kill the ambassador and the other two Jews.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/plot_to_kill_israeli_ambassador_in_azerbaijan_foiled/24462269.html

Copyright (c) 2012. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.