Israel closes three Palestinian universities after bombings

Tel Aviv - In response to twin suicide bombings that killed 22 people, Israel decided Monday to close three Palestinian universities, intensify raids against militants and bar Palestinian officials from holding key meetings in the West Bank and abroad.

The blasts went off seconds apart Sunday evening in a crowded, old part of Tel Aviv, killing 22 bystanders and wounding more than 100 in the deadliest Palestinian attack since March. Eleven of the dead were Israelis and at least six were foreign workers, with five bodies still not identified Monday.

An offshoot of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, identified the two assailants as its members. A spokesman said the group, based in the West Bank city of Nablus, is funded by Iran and will carry out more attacks in Israel. The spokesman said the money was funneled to Al Aqsa through Fatah activists in Lebanon.

The blasts underscored the growing chaos in the Palestinian areas and the slipping control of Arafat's government, which condemned the bombings.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held the Palestinian Authority responsible, saying it has encouraged and initiated attacks on Israelis.

The blasts came just three weeks before Israel's Jan. 28 general election and ended a period of six weeks without bombings, one of the longest of relative calm in the past 27 months of fighting. The deadliest bombing was in March, on the eve of the Jewish Passover holiday, when a blast in a hotel killed 29 people.

Sharon said peace talks could only resume once attacks cease. ``When we put an end to terror, we will sit down and talk peace, but first we have to defeat terror,'' Sharon said after visiting wounded in a Tel Aviv hospital Monday.

In the past, particularly deadly bombings have triggered large-scale Israeli incursions in the West Bank, and hard-liners in Israel's Cabinet have called for expelling Arafat. However, with an Israeli election on the horizon, such a move was unlikely.

Instead, the security Cabinet decided Monday to close three Palestinian universities as alleged hotbeds of incitement -- a measure Israel last took during the first Palestinian uprising, which lasted from 1987 to 1993.

A Sharon adviser, Raanan Gissin, said Bir Zeit University near Ramallah, the most prestigious in the Palestinian areas, was among those shut down, and that An Najah University in Nablus would probably be closed as well.

Bir Zeit President Hanna Nasser said he received orders -- relayed via Palestinian liaison officials with Israel -- to immediately clear the campus.

The Israeli military would not confirm the closure orders.

Three Palestinian Associated Press staffers were barred by the military from reaching the university. The three, in an AP vehicle, were stopped at a checkpoint just south of Bir Zeit and told they could not cross without Israeli press accreditation. Israel withdrew accreditation from Palestinians a year ago.

Israel also decided to bar Palestinian officials from attending a meeting in London this month where they were to discuss reforms demanded by the United States as a first step toward the establishment of an independent state, Gissin said.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the British Broadcasting Corp. that the attacks emphasize the need for political dialogue. ``I hope very much that the Israeli government will think again,'' he said.

Israel also decided to prevent the 120-member Palestinian Central Council from meeting in Ramallah on Thursday and to place travel restrictions on senior Palestinian Authority officials, who will now have their cars inspected at checkpoints.

The PCC, a key decision-making body, was to discuss a draft of the Palestinian constitution, a reform demanded by the Americans as a first step toward statehood.

Gissin said Israel will also increase ``pinpoint'' attacks, meaning it will hunt down and kills Palestinian militants -- acts which the Palestinians condemn as assassinations.

``They violated the trust so we have the right to take such defensive measures to make sure that such horrible terrorist activities don't take place,'' Gissin said.

Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said the Israeli government's decisions would only add ``fuel to the fire.''

The Nablus group linked to the Al Aqsa militia identified the bombers as Samer Nouri, 19, and Burak Burak Khelfi, 20. A spokesman for the group, who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone, said the faction has several dozen members and was formed after an Israeli military offensive in March. ``We are going to continue this way (with attacks),'' said the spokesman, who insisted on anonymity.

Fatah tried to distance itself from the attack, saying the two bombers were not members. The Palestinian Authority said it ``strongly condemns and fully rejects all crimes against civilians and the idea of revenge.''

In the past, waves of Palestinian terrorism have helped hard-line parties in Israeli elections. With voting set for Jan. 28, Sharon's Likud Party, hit hard by a corruption scandal, stood to gain. However, the proximity of the election also worked against a tough response, which would be seen as electioneering.

Also, Israel has gotten clear indications from the United States to keep the Mideast conflict on a low burn while the U.S. prepares for a possible attack on Iraq.

The twin attack was also likely to harm Egyptian efforts to secure a declaration from Fatah and the militant Islamic groups for an end to suicide bombings as a step toward a truce. Egyptian officials had said another meeting was due this week; that was now in doubt.

The two bombers set off explosives strapped to their bodies at around 6:30 p.m. Sunday in a pedestrian area filled with working class shops and restaurants near Tel Aviv's old, defunct central bus station.

One bomber blew himself up near a fast food restaurant called ``McChina.'' The explosion ripped through the outdoor restaurant, overturning wooden picnic tables and showering glass on the sidewalk. The other bomber hit a commercial area nearby.

Many of the victims were foreign workers, thousands of whom live in the area. Among the dead were two Romanians, a Bulgarian and a Ghanian, police said.

Hours later, Israeli attack helicopters fired four missiles at metal workshops in Gaza City. Eight people were slightly wounded. The Israeli military said the workshops were used for making weapons, including mortars and rockets. -- New York Times

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