JERUSALEM, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Israel's public security minister canceled a trip to Britain because he fears arrest for his involvement in the assassination of the head of Hamas in 2002.
Avi Dichter said he decided to cancel the trip after consulting the Israeli foreign minister who warned him of the likelihood of his arrest in England for his role in the assassination of Salah Shehade, the head of the military wing of Hamas, in July 2002, Haaretz said Thursday.
Dichter served as the head of the intelligence and security service, Shin Bet, when Israeli forces launched an airstrike on Shehade's house in Gaza, leaving 14 dead.
A British research institute invited Dichter to attend a conference examining the results of the Annapolis peace talks regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Dichter is the subject of a civil suit in the United States filed in 2005 over the Shehade assassination.
