An e-mail led to the sensational arrest and six-day interrogation of a former ANC intelligence operative over a bizarre alleged plot to kill President Thabo Mbeki.

Bheki Jacobs, 41, was flown to Pretoria in an executive jet late last Saturday by police who linked him to a "conspiracy to commit murder". These charges were dropped on Friday.

The Sunday Times has established that Jacobs was arrested after a dossier detailing the alleged plot was e-mailed to the SAPS Crime Intelligence Service (CIS).

The dossier named current and former government officials and high-ranking police, defence and intelligence staff as alleged "silent coup" plotters. Hefer commission participants also feature in its 24 pages. Jacobs has denied compiling the dossier.

Police raided properties last Saturday . The search warrant described a "conspiracy to commit murder" and crimen injuria - but Jacobs was arrested hours later under a different warrant, linking him to allegedly fraudulent travel and identity documents.

Jacobs' lawyer, Benjy Duchen, said the state had dropped the conspiracy charges but that his client would appear in court in February in connection with alleged fraudulent ID documents.

Duchen said police produced a copy of the dossier and records showing it was e-mailed via a Durban security consultant to Mo Shaik and then on to the CIS.

Shaik had no comment on this.

Said Duchen: "I think this [dossier] should be brought before the Hefer commission. "

Jacobs, who received training as an Umkhonto weSizwe member in Angola and Moscow before returning to South Africa in 1994, was one of the people who blew the whistle on alleged arms deal corruption.

Two years ago, the National Intelligence Agency told presidential staff to stay away from Jacobs who, they claimed, had masqueraded for years as a secret agent reporting to the President.

Jacobs claimed he did work for the S A Secret Service. The NIA last week declined to comment on Jacobs or the dossier.

National police spokesman Director Phuti Setati said on Friday: "We have no comment on the [Jacobs] case as a whole."

Mo Shaik referred to the dossier at the Hefer commission this week. "Some of the people associated with the Scorpions may be arrested in the next 24 hours for conspiracy to murder," he said.

"You and I know what you're talking about. In the e-mail, it makes the point that there is a group of us . . . myself, the deputy president, who are involved in a possible plot to assassinate the President."

With acknowledgements to André Jurgens and the Sunday Times.