Bombings stall 'road map' talks

JERUSALEM - Suicide bombings in Jerusalem that killed seven people yesterday have prompted Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to postpone a trip to Washington to discuss Middle East peace prospects.

Sharon was to meet United States President George W. Bush on Wednesday (NZ time) to discuss a US-backed peace plan calling for an end to violence in the 31-month Palestinian uprising and a resumption of peace talks.

The first blast ripped through a commuter bus, killing seven people and injuring at least 20.

The second occurred near a roadblock at the entrance to Jerusalem. Police said only a Palestinian they identified as an intended suicide bomber was killed.

Sharon's office, announcing the delay of the US visit, said the Prime Minister would instead be holding consultations with security officials.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either Jerusalem blast.

The explosions came hours after Sharon met his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, to discuss ways to restart peace talks.

The first summit in two years between Israel and the Palestinians ended deadlocked over the US-backed peace "road map". The talks had already been marred by a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed a Jewish settler and his pregnant wife in the divided West Bank city of Hebron and Israel's killing of four suspected militants.

Sharon and Abbas held three hours of talks in Jerusalem, but failed to reconcile a list of conflicting demands. The main source of discord remained which side should make the first move under a three-phase peace proposal that Washington hails as a new opportunity for Middle East peace following the war in Iraq.

Expectations for a breakthrough had been low, and the only concrete agreement was to resume talks soon after Sharon's now-delayed visit to Washington.

Israeli officials want Bush to endorse the amendments they are seeking to the road map, which calls for reciprocal steps leading to a Palestinian state by 2005 and security for Israel. The Palestinians want Israel to accept the plan as is.

Hours before Sharon and Abbas met, a Palestinian bomber disguised as a religious Jew eluded soldiers in Hebron and blew himself up, killing the settler couple in a main square.

The family of a 21-year-old Hebron man said the Islamic group Hamas, which has pledged to keep up its attacks despite the road map and in defiance of Abbas, informed them that he had carried out the bombing.

Militants spearheading an uprising for independence have often attacked fortified settler enclaves in the divided city, where about 400 settlers live among 120,000 Palestinians.

The Hebron attack gave Sharon, who has balked at accepting the road map as it stands, a chance to hammer home his demand that Abbas crack down on militants before Israel will make any significant concessions.

"The sides were in agreement that halting terrorism is a crucial first stage to any progress and the Palestinians promised to make a sincere and real effort to stop terrorism," said Sharon's office.

But Abbas, a leading moderate and US favourite, said he had asked Sharon to embrace the road map unequivocally, halt army raids and "assassinations", lift military blockades of Palestinian areas and release prisoners.

"The Palestinian delegation said that they are prepared to start implementing the security aspects of the road map as soon as Israel accepts the road map."

Abbas also sought restored freedom of movement for Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, whom Sharon has tried to isolate, accusing him of fomenting anti-Israel violence.

- REUTERS