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Followup: Fatal Gaza blast hits US convoy
A United States diplomatic convoy has been hit by a massive bomb blast in the Gaza Strip which killed three Americans and injured one. The BBCâs Roger Hearing in Jerusalem says that American sources in Israel say that the dead were two security guards and one junior diplomat. A witness told the BBC that the explosion was caused by a roadside bomb, possibly detonated by remote control. The explosion took place at 1000 near the village of Beit Hanoun, about one kilometre inside the Gaza Strip, near the Erez Crossing, as the convoy of US diplomatic vehicles was passing. US diplomats and members of the Central Intelligence Agency are believed to have been in the convoy, but our correspondent said it is not clear whether this convoy was deliberately targeted.
| Fox News said they were a security detail... |
Mohammed Radwan, a Palestinian taxi driver, said he was at a nearby petrol station when the bomb went off. "I was about to fill up my car with gas when I saw the American convoy passing. There was a Palestinian police car in front and then three big (US) cars. When the third one passed, an explosion went off," he told the Associated Press. "The first two cars drove quickly and stopped far from the explosion. Palestinian security people jumped out of the car and rushed to the car that had blown up. "When I tried to approach them, they shouted at me to leave. I saw two people covered with blood lying next to the car," he added. Another witness, Ahmed Samir, told the Reuters news agency: "We were inside our storage room, and heard the siren of police cars approaching. A few seconds later there was a huge explosion and shrapnel from body parts and debris from damaged M-16s (assault rifles) were scattered everywhere." The force of the explosion completely destroyed the silver Cherokee jeep, which bore US diplomatic number plates, and left a large crater in the ground.
| They knew who was in the cars, and they targeted them deliberately. That's why Saeb's so scared. On Fox, he promised that the Paleos would work with our investigators or they could have the run of the place to track down the bad guys. |
The BBCâs Simon Wilson, also in Jerusalem, says that when foreign officials travel in and around the region they do so in heavily armoured vehicles, with many security officials in tow. It is the first time a US target has been hit inside the Palestinian territories, although correspondents say it is not unusual for foreign diplomats based in Israel to travel into Gaza to try to monitor the situation there.
| They were on their way to interview applicants for scholarships in the U.S. |
The new Palestinian Prime Minister, Ahmed Qurei, has been swiftly to condemn the attack [sic] and promise that the incident will be thoroughly investigated. "We strongly condemn this incident and we will conduct an investigation and we will follow it to find the source of this attack," he said. Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat was quoted as saying: "These are American monitors that have come here at our request. These people were here to help us."
| "My foot really hurts bad where we shot it. How about yours?" |
Correspondents say Palestinian police are at the scene of the blast to begin an investigation. Initial reports suggested that John Wolf, head of a US team monitoring the implementation of the US-backed peace plan known as the road map was travelling in the group. However, US officials have said that Mr Wolf is not currently in the region.
| Maybe the perps just thought he was. The radio said Hamas and IJ have both denied involvement... |
Posted by: Bulldog 2003-10-15 |
