A rchive Date
[ 13-04-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Palestine ]
|
[http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoNews/03n1.html
Six killed in suicide attack
Bombing the latest obstacle to Colin Powell's peace mission
By AP
Apr 13, 2002
JERUSALEM - A Palestinian woman blew herself up yesterday in a crowded outdoor market in Jerusalem, killing six people and wounding more than 80 others.
The attack dealt a new blow to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's difficult peace mission. Today's scheduled meeting between Powell and Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat was postponed by the Americans, Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said. It might be held tomorrow, he said.
No timetable
Powell, who hours earlier failed to get a timetable from Israel for wrapping up its military offensive in the West Bank, viewed the aftermath of yesterday's suicide bombing from a helicopter headed to the Lebanese border, Israeli officials said.
The blast shook the Mahane Yehuda market at 4:15 p.m., just before the start of the Sabbath at sundown, when the market was packed.
Jerusalem Police Chief Mickey Levy said the bomber had tried to get into the market, but was apparently held back by heavy security. Instead she blew herself up at a nearby bus stop.
Bloodied victims, their faces blackened by the blast, staggered from the scene. Rescue workers raced the wounded on stretchers to waiting ambulances.
BODY PARTS
The market was strewn with glass shards, twisted metal, blood and body parts. Five bodies were covered by white sheets. A witness saw the severed head of a woman.
A shopper identified only as Elisheva frantically tore pieces of clothing to use as bandages. "I was holding a girl, who was gushing blood from her face," Elisheva said. "She said to me, 'Today is my 17th birthday. Why is this happening?' "
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia linked to Arafat, took responsibility for the attack. Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, spiritual leader of the militant group Hamas, said the bombing was punishment for Israel's military offensive.
"If Israel thinks that after what they did in Jenin and Nablus they will not be punished, they are mistaken," Yassin said. "This is part of the punishment ... More is coming."
UNDER SIEGE
Since Israel launched "Operation Defensive Shield" on March 29 to try to stop a wave of attacks by Palestinian militants, 25 Israelis have been killed in five suicide bombings.
Israel cites the suicide attacks in arguing that it cannot pull out of militant strongholds in the West Bank until terror cells have been wiped out. The Palestinians say Israel's two-week-old offensive only heightens the desire of militants to carry out attacks.
U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni met late yesterday with Palestinian negotiators in the West Bank town of Jericho. The Israeli army has Arafat's Ramallah headquarters under siege, isolating him from the outside world.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for sending an armed international force to Palestinian areas.
Prime Minister Jean Chretien said Canada will send peacekeepers to the war-torn Middle East if asked.
"Of course ... if we are requested, we will want to be there," Chretien told reporters in Dakar, Senegal.
-- With files from Anne Dawson
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
|