Top left; victim of todays HOMOCIDE BOMBER.
Top right; proud Muslim mother dresses son in sucide bomb vest.
Bottom left; teenage homocide bombers proudly march through streets.
Bottom right; from cradle to grave, a baby muslim boys' first steps?
Blast at nightclub shatters truce
By Jonathan Saul in Tel Aviv
February 26, 2005
From: Reuters
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12376565-2,00.html
A wounded woman is moved to safety on a stretcher /AFP
A PALESTINIAN suicide bomber killed at least four people and wounded about 50 outside a Tel Aviv nightclub today, shattering a de facto truce by militants that had boosted hopes for Middle East peace.
A cell of the militant Islamic Jihad group in the West Bank claimed responsibility for the attack outside the Stage Club, a popular karaoke nightspot on a Tel Aviv beach promenade frequented by weekend revellers.
But the faction's leadership in the Gaza Strip denied any knowledge and said it was maintaining calm under a deal with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who agreed a truce with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at a February 8 summit.
Mr Abbas has called an emergency meeting of his top security officials in the wake of the blast.
"A single terrorist exploded in a line of people waiting to get into the club," said Tel Aviv police chief David Tzur.
It was the first Palestinian bombing in Israel since three people were killed in a Tel Aviv open-air market on November 1.
Hospital officials said the bomber killed at least four people and some 50 were wounded.
Consular officials were today checking whether any Australians were harmed.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said there had been no reports of Australian injuries.
But the spokesman said officials in Tel Aviv were checking with local authorities whether any Australians were present.
Ambulances, lights flashing, rushed to the nightclub in a scene many Israelis had begun to believe they had put behind them. Pieces of flesh were spattered on parked cars and blood stained the pavement.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the bombing and said it would pursue whoever was responsible.
Israel said it showed that the Palestinians could not rely on agreements with the militants, but had to "dismantle terror groups".
"The Palestinian Authority will not be silent about this sabotage and it will pursue whoever stands behind this act and will inflict the required punishment," an official statement said.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie suggested the bombing could have been "an individual act" rather the work of a faction.
At the scene, Israeli Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra told reporters: "We will have to see where we can tighten the screws and the Palestinian Authority has to tighten its screws."
Mr Sharon was to meet senior security officials later today to discuss the response.
A worker at the club, who gave her name only as Yifaat, said casualties would have been far heavier had the bomber struck 30 minutes later when a late-night rush usually began.
"We were preparing for the evening. Suddenly we heard a tremendous blast," she said.
"I thought it might have been a gas explosion. But someone said it was a terrorist attack and then I saw the guard at the entrance come in all covered with blood."
In Washington, a US official who declined to be identified said the bombing "underscores the need for decisive action against those who continue to believe that violence is the way to deal with problems".
"I would expect that the Palestinian leadership is as concerned about this as we are."
Militant groups behind suicide bombings in a four-and-a-half-year-old uprising had said they were not bound by the ceasefire, but have been following a de facto truce while discussing whether to formalise it.
"There have been three-and-a-half months of quiet and we had hopes, but we didn't delude ourselves that we wouldn't return to this," Israel's National Police Chief Moshe Karadi said at the blast scene.
Palestinian militant factions have said they are still not satisfied with Israeli gestures meant to build confidence in the peace process - such as prisoner releases and an end to army raids and assassinations.
They have demanded the release of many more than the 500 Palestinian prisoners who have been freed so far and insist that Israel, now holding about 7500 Palestinians, should include inmates convicted for hurting or killing Israelis.
The groups also want a more sweeping Israeli pullback from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, which is slated to begin on July 20.
With AFP and AAP
No comments:
Post a Comment