Palestinian suicide bomber kills 6 in Jerusalem

7.30am

JERUSALEM - A Palestinian suicide bomber has killed six people (earlier reported as seven) and wounded 35 at a Jerusalem bus stop, prompting US President George W Bush to delay a speech laying out the path to a Palestinian state.

The attack in the French Hill area on Wednesday was the second suicide bombing in the city in two days, raising the prospect of the Israeli army responding in line with a new policy of retaking and holding Palestinian land as long as such attacks continue.

The government announced the policy after a member of Hamas blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus on Tuesday and killed 19 people, the highest death toll in a Palestinian attack in the city in six years.

Israeli forces later rolled into Palestinian-ruled Jenin, Nablus, and Qalqilya in the West Bank, although they left Nablus after a brief raid.

The suicide bomber detonated explosives at a bus stop in the evening rush hour in French Hill after being chased by police, police said. The blast scattered pieces of flesh and piles of shredded paper and clothing on the ground.

"It was a Palestinian suicide bomber," Israeli police spokesman Gil Kleiman said.

Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy told Army Radio: "The bomber ran to the bus stop. Police officers chased him. When he reached the bus stop he detonated a powerful bomb".

The attack was in an area that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognised internationally.

At least 1403 Palestinians and 530 Israelis have now been killed since a Palestinian revolt began in September 2000 after negotiations for a final peace treaty became deadlocked.

In Washington, the White House condemned the bombing and said its immediate aftermath was not the right time for Bush to lay out his ideas on Middle East peace.

"The president knows what he wants to say. The president will share it when ... it can do the most good," spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters.

"I think the time will be soon ... It's hard to get people to focus on peace today when they're still suffering from the consequences of terrorism as we speak."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, just blocks away from Israel's national police headquarters. Police had been on the alert for more suicide attacks after Tuesday's suicide bombing.

David Baker, an official in Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office, said the attack "shows that Palestinian terror knows no bounds and doesn't skip a beat." Palestinian officials were not immediately available for comment.

Palestinian Labour Minister Ghassan al-Khatib declined to condemn the suicide bombing attack but added: "The attack is another example that violence begets violence."

The Israeli government did immediately not say how it would respond to the attack but had outlined a new policy in a statement early on Wednesday after a late-night meeting.

"Against terrorist acts, Israel will respond by capturing territories of the Palestinian Authority. These territories will be held by Israel as long as terror continues," it said.

"Additional terrorist attacks will bring about additional captures of territory. As a result of today's bombing in Jerusalem, Israel will soon capture Palestinian Authority territory as described in the policy above."

In recent weeks, Israli forces have staged almost daily raids into Palestinian-ruled territory to root out militants, but have usually left after several hours.

White House spokesman Fleischer said Bush did not object to Israel's decision to reoccupy Palestinian areas in response to any new attacks.

"The president believes that Israel is in the middle of recovering from a very serious attack and that Israel has a right to defend itself," Fleischer said.

In a sign the army could be preparing for a long stay in Jenin, Israeli trucks set down mobile buildings at a site which troops used as a makeshift base during a previous incursion.

An army spokeswoman had no immediate comment. Palestinian medics said a Jenin woman died of a heart attack when soldiers entered her home to hunt for fighters.

It was not clear whether the Jenin operation was the start of an indefinite reoccupation of the city.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said: "They want only to use terror as a pretext in order to launch their terror against the Palestinian people and against any possibility of establishing a Palestinian independent state."

Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat added: "Sharon is trying to foil...every effort, even if it comes from...Bush."

Suicide bombings have continued against Israelis despite a five-week Israeli military offensive in the West Bank that ended in early May and the almost daily military raids since then.

- REUTERS

Feature: Middle East

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