Hezbollah attempts to kidnap Israelis foiled: Barak

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas have tried to abduct Israelis abroad and several such attempts have been thwarted, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said.

Israel, which fought a war with Hezbollah in 2006, has been on alert for reprisals since the Iranian-sponsored group's military mastermind Imad Moughniyah was assassinated in Syria in February.

Israeli media reported on Tuesday that Israel's intelligence services, in cooperation with foreign counterparts, prevented Hezbollah agents from kidnapping as many as five Israelis who were traveling or living abroad.

"There have been quite a few intelligence alerts in recent weeks and there were a number of very important thwarting operations," Barak said in a briefing to reporters, according to a transcript released by his office on Wednesday.

An Israeli security source said intelligence warnings were received last month about a west African country that has a small group of business people from the Jewish state, as well as a sizeable Lebanese expatriate community.

Israel sent emissaries to warn its citizens in the African country to be vigilant, the source said. Israel's National Security Council also issued an advisory urging Israelis abroad to beware of kidnapping attempts.

Last June, the U.S. television network ABC reported that Hezbollah was suspected of having reconnoitred Israeli and Jewish targets in Canada ahead of a possible attack. An Israeli security source dismissed that report as baseless.

Hezbollah vowed "open war" on Israel to avenge the death of Moughniyah in a Damascus car bombing. Israel denied involvement.

Seizing Israelis could help Hezbollah press its demand for Israel to quit a disputed zone straddling the Lebanese and Syrian borders or to negotiate for the release of Arabs jailed in Israel.

An Israeli businessman abducted by Hezbollah while on a 2000 visit to Dubai was freed as part of German-mediated prisoner swap between the Lebanese group and Israel four years later.

(Editing by Janet Lawrence)