Kuwaiti newspaper story that Mossad tipped off local agents over threat to defence minister, 'completely wrong' says Israel
Israeli officials have firmly denied claims that a plot to assassinate Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, in Singapore had been thwarted by local security agencies working on information from Mossad.
Al-Jarida, a Kuwaiti newspaper, said that three members of an Iranian Hezbollah cell were detained in Singapore this week after Mossad agents passed on intelligence.
An Israeli official said the report was "completely wrong", adding: "No one knows anything about any incident. There has been no alarm."
Barak was in Singapore to visit the air show and meet officials. The claim followed three attacks and attempted attacks on Israeli targets this week, in Delhi, Tbilisi and Bangkok.
Bangkok police said on Thursday that the three suspects in the bungled attack in the Thai capital were intending to target Israeli diplomats.
The Thai authorities "know for certain that [the target] was Israeli diplomats," said General Prewpan Dhamapong. "This issue was about individuals and the targets were specific."
Two of the suspects, both Iranian, are in Thai police custody. The legs of one were blown off when a device detonated. A third Iranian suspect was detained in Malaysia.
The devices used in Bangkok were similar to those deployed in Delhi and Tblisisi, Thai police said.
Officials from Mossad visited Delhi a week before Monday's attack to meet local security chiefs, according to the Times of India. The wife of an Israeli diplomat was injured in the blast.
Israel has accused Iran of being behind all three incidents. The security cabinet met to discuss "Iran's involvement in repeated attempts to attack Israeli targets," the prime minister's office said.