Mideast suicide bomber in tit-for-tat hit

GAZA - A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up yesterday, lightly wounding two Israeli soldiers, hours before a United States team was due to arrive in the Middle East to launch a peace drive aimed at ending 14 months of violence.

The bombing followed Israel's killing on Saturday of Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, a top member of the militant Hamas group's military wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades, which is responsible for attacks inside Israel that have killed scores of people.

Hamas vowed to avenge Abu Hanoud's "assassination" in an Israeli helicopter missile strike. At least eight Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed in a fresh wave of violence that erupted after the militant's death.

Israeli radio stations have reported that Hamas pledged to carry out an attack during the peace mission led by former US Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns.

Global pressure for US mediation and a desire to consolidate Arab support for its anti-terror war in Afghanistan led the US to launch the peace effort, the most intense involvement by the Bush Administration in the conflict.

But the wave of tit-for-tat violence threatened to complicate the mission before it even started.

Tension has been particularly high in the Gaza Strip, where gun battles between Israeli forces and Palestinians have raged, including along the border with Egypt.



Senior Israeli and Palestinian security officials held US-mediated talks in the Tel Aviv area yesterday to prepare for the arrival of Zinni and Burns.

Israel's Army Radio reported that for the first time in months the sides called the talks "productive". It was the first time the security officials had met in at least a month.

Zinni's maiden Middle East peace mission follows a string of failed diplomatic efforts by others to end the bloodshed, including in June by US Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet.

- REUTERS

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