Ecuador's Correa says assassination plot a scam

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said on Thursday that four men arrested by police on suspicion they were plotting to kill him were probably scam artists trying to extort cash out of authorities. Ecuador's Attorney General Washington Pezantes said earlier police were questioning three Colombians and one Ecuadorean, caught near the presidential palace in Quito, on suspicion they plotted to kill Correa. But officials provided no details about how the men planned to carry out the attack. 'It was a tip that we have been following for some time, but there is a strong probability they were just scam artists,' said Correa in an interview with a local television station. 'We have dozens of cases like this every month.'