ARABS-ISRAEL - Dec. 16 - Israel's '92 Plot To Kill Saddam.

Israel developed a plan in 1992 to assassinate Saddam Hussein at a funeral, but it was shelved after 5 Israeli soldiers were accidentally killed by a missile during a simulated assault on Saddam, the media and a member of Parliament say. Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel during the 1991 Gulf war, and under strong pressure from the US, Israel refrained from striking back. But shortly after the war, Israel began investigating the possibility of killing Saddam, and the Israeli PM at the time, Yitzhak Rabin, approved a detailed study after he was elected in 1992, according to the reports in the country's leading newspapers, including Maariv and Yediot Ahronot. That same year, one of Saddam's closest relatives, his uncle Khairallah Tulfah, became seriously ill. Tulfah had raised Saddam, whose own father died before he was born. Saddam was also married to Tulfah's daughter Sajida. Israel's military believed Saddam would attend Tulfah's funeral in person instead of sending one of his doubles, and that he could be targeted at the event, according to the Israeli newspaper reports. Israel made great efforts to monitor Tulfah's failing health. The military built mock-ups of Saddam's favourite spots in and around his hometown, Tikrit, where the funeral would probably take place. The plan, code-named Operation Bramble Bush, called for helicopters to drop members of an elite military unit, Sayeret Matkal, outside Tikrit. They were to dig in and camouflage themselves a few 100 meters from a spot where Saddam was considered likely to travel. At an Oct. 2, 1992, meeting on the plan, Rabin "went into the tiniest details", according to Nadav Zeevi, a major in the army reserves who was quoted by Yediot Ahronot. "He checked and questioned and investigated and was very interested. At the end of the meeting he demanded certainty of at least 98% before he would approve the operation". The Israelis staged a simulation in the country's southern desert on Nov. 5, 1992. But in a deadly mix-up, the unit that was to carry out the attack fired a real missile, instead of a dummy, at Israeli soldiers serving as stand-ins for Saddam and his bodyguards. Five soldiers were killed. The Israeli officer playing Saddam survived, but was among 6 wounded. Following the 1992 disaster, the plan was dropped without ever being presented to the government for approval.