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Deadly Blast Rips Through Jerusalem Bus
An explosion ripped through a bus in downtown Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing several passengers and wounding dozens, police said. Well, we all knew this was coming. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. However, the Islamic militant group Hamas has threatened to take bloody revenge for a botched attack by Israel on one of its leaders, Abdel Aziz Rantissi, on Tuesday. Police said the blast apparently was set off by a suicide bomber who targeted bus No. 14 on Jaffa Street, Jerusalem's main thoroughfare in the commercial heart of the city. The blast was heard throughout Jerusalem. Avi Zohar, a spokesman for the Magen David Adom rescue service, reported 30 casualties but did not provide a breakdown of dead and wounded. Police said several passengers were killed. Earlier Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was unapologetic about the strike against Rantissi, despite President Bush's reprimand that the attack made it harder for the Palestinian prime minister to fight terrorism. Tuesday's attack jeopardized the so-called "road map," a U.S.-backed plan for peace and Palestinian statehood by 2005. Bush has invested his presidential prestige in the initiative, formally launching it with Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas at a summit last week in the Jordanian resort of Aqaba. "We will make no concessions to terror," Sharon told his Cabinet on Wednesday, according to a government official. "We made this clear to all the White House officials and to the Palestinians before the Aqaba summit." Hamas has carried out dozens of suicide bomb attacks in Israel, killing more than 300 people. Abbas denounced the missile strike as terrorism, appealed to the United States to intervene, and said he would keep trying to reach an understanding with Hamas and other militias. Abbas opposes a crackdown on the armed group, saying there is no substitute for dialogue and that he will not risk a civil war. Or his job Abbas has been unequivocal in his condemnation of violence against Israel, while Arafat has been more ambiguous and stands accused by Israel and the United States of involvement in terrorism. Sharon on Wednesday was quoted as saying he would not wait for Abbas to reach an agreement with Hamas. "If the Palestinian Authority does not perform its duties, we will do so instead," Sharon told the Yediot Ahronot daily. The strike against Rantissi was widely criticized in Israel, including by politicians who generally support targeted killings. Israel has carried out dozens of such attacks in the past 32 months in its campaign to prevent bombings and shootings. Posted by: Steve 2003-06-11 |
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