Suicide bombers strike Israel amid summit

Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon postponed a trip to Washington on Sunday after a suicide bomber killed seven passengers and himself Jerusalem bus while a second bomber blew himself up on the city's outskirts, police said.

Also Sunday, Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip shot and killed a Palestinian man, Israeli and Palestinian security forces said.

The suicide attacks came just hours after Jerusalem met to discuss a new peace plan in their first top-level summit in nearly three years, and shortly before Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was scheduled to travel to Washington for talks on the peace plan with President Bush.

Sharon postponed Sunday's trip to the United States after the attacks and called a meeting of his Cabinet for later Sunday to address a recent wave of violence.

In the Gaza Strip refugee camp of Khan Younis, Israeli troops shot and killed an 18-year-old Palestinian man, Israeli and Palestinian security sources said. The army said troops opened fire after a number of Palestinians tried to place an object near an army post. Palestinians said the man, identified as Ali Abu Namouss, was walking near his house when he was hit.

"After the horrendous actions ... he has felt it necessary to be at home, with the various discussions that need to be taking place right now," said foreign ministry spokesman Mark Sofer.

Sunday's bus bomber struck a few minutes before 6 a.m. at the beginning of a rush hour on a work day in Israel. Witnesses said the bomb went off in the front section of a large two-section bus as it approached a large intersection between a Palestinian refugee camp and the Jewish neighborhood of French Hill, in the part of Jerusalem Israel captured in the 1967 war and claimed by the Palestinians.

The wounded included at least six Israeli soldiers who were returning to their bases after the weekend.

The second bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the village of Dahiya el-Barid, near Jerusalem. The bomber had apparently intended to enter the city but was turned back by the road blocks that sprung up after the first bombing, police said. He was killed in the blast, but no one else was hurt.

No one claimed responsibility for either bombing. The military immediately imposed a curfew in the West Bank city of Ramallah, not far from where the bus bombing took place.

The Sunday attacks were part of a sudden surge in Palestinian assaults — four in 12 hours — including a bombing in the West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday night in which a suicide bomber killed an Israeli man and his pregnant wife. Also Saturday, two armed Palestinians tried to attack a Jewish settlement in the West Bank and were killed by soldiers.

The attacks appeared to be timed to coincide with a summit meeting between Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday night during which the two failed to narrow their sharp differences over the so-called "road map" for peace unveiled last month by international mediators.

The Palestinians have accepted the road map — a three-stage prescription for ending violence quickly and setting up a Palestinian state by 2005 — and the Palestinian delegation to the summit asked Sharon to agree to it as well.

But Sharon had declined, saying he wanted to discuss with Bush Israel's numerous reservations, including that the Palestinians first bring an end to all violence.

Sharon and Abbas are scheduled to hold more talks after Sharon's meeting with Bush. Sharon's office did not announce a new travel date to Washington.

The positions put forth by each side during the summit underscored the wide gaps between the Israelis and Palestinians on the peace plan. A statement from Abbas' office said the Palestinian prime minister asked Sharon to allow Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, confined to his office for more than a year, freedom of movement; and to lift travel restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank.

For his part, Sharon proposed withdrawing troops from some areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said Palestinian Parliament Speaker Ahmed Qureia, who attended the summit. Israeli media have reported that Sharon would offer to pull soldiers out of parts of the northern Gaza Strip, as a test for Palestinian security forces who would then be expected to prevent rocket fire on Israel.

Abbas also asked Sharon to stop hunting suspected militants to allow the Palestinians to launch their own campaign against militias, Qureia said.

Israel says it will not budge until Abbas has taken steps against the armed groups, including arrests and weapons sweeps.

The summit could be a bellwether for future U.S. mediation efforts. If top-level Israeli-Palestinian talks fail to produce results, Washington might have to press the sides harder or even consider imposing solutions.

Palestinian militias have threatened to sabotage the road map.

Sunday's bus bombing was the first such attack in Jerusalem since last November. In 93 suicide attacks since the current violence erupted in September 2000, 357 bystanders have been killed. Most attacks carried out by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but recently the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, linked to the mainstream Fatah, have taken responsibility.

The Palestinian who killed the Israeli man and his pregnant wife in Hebron on Saturday was identified by relatives as Fuad Qawasmeh, 21, a Hamas supporter.

Sunday's bus bomber was dressed in a white prayer shawl and skull cap worn by observant Jews "to give the impression he was coming home from morning prayers," said police spokesman Gil Kleiman. -- Associated Press

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