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Israel blames Syria for bombing
Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has accused Syria of involvement in Friday's Tel Aviv suicide bombing in which four people were killed.
He was speaking hours after Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad's Damascus office said it carried out the attack.
The group's leaders in Gaza deny any involvement, suggesting a split, says the BBC's Barbara Plett in Jerusalem.
The bombing was the first serious blow to a ceasefire agreed by Israeli and Palestinian leaders earlier this month.
Seven people have been detained by Israeli and Palestinian forces over the bombing, which injured about 50 people.
A statement issued by Mr Mofaz's office said the defence minister had ruled that "Israel sees Syria and the Islamic Jihad movement as those standing behind the murderous attack in Tel Aviv".
However, he did not immediately threaten retaliation against Damascus.
The leader of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the attack and promised to "hunt down" those responsible.
'Calm ended'
An Islamic Jihad official in Damascus told news agencies the bombing was in retaliation for Israel's violation of the truce.
"The calm period with the [Palestinian] Authority was an agreement for a month and that has ended," the official, who gave his name as Abu Tareq, told the Associated Press.
"Israel has not abided by the pacification period. This is the main reason that led to this operation," he added, without giving details.
Islamic Jihad officials in the West Bank and Beirut echoed the claim, but the group's leadership in Gaza continued to deny that it was responsible.
Our correspondent in Jerusalem says the statements could suggest a divide between Islamic Jihad's inner circle, based in Gaza, and its outside leadership in Syria, which is said to have more influence over cells in the West Bank.
Brothers arrested
Israeli soldiers raided the village of Deir al Ghusun, just north of the West Bank town of Tulkarem, on Saturday morning and imposed a curfew.
Two brothers of the bomber, identified by the Israelis as 21-year-old Abdullah Badran, were arrested, as well as the local imam.
Palestinian sources say the bomber was a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, but also recruited and funded by Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants - though a Hezbollah spokesman in Beirut has denied this.
Palestinian police separately arrested two people over the blast.
The two men held by Palestinian security forces were also arrested in the Tulkarem area. One source described them as Islamic Jihad militants.
'Third party'
"The Palestinian Authority will not stand silent in the face of this act of sabotage," Mr Abbas said in a statement after meeting security chiefs.
Mr Abbas blamed a "third party" but went no further.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was expected to meet security chiefs to discuss a response.
A top Sharon adviser, Raanan Gissin, told the BBC that the Palestinian Authority must take "the necessary, concrete steps to dismantle the terrorist organisation, collect the illegal weapons, make the necessary arrests".
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for the Palestinians to take "immediate, credible steps" to find those behind the attacks.
Militant attacks had fallen away in the days after Israel and the Palestinian Authority reached a truce at a summit in Egypt on 8 February.
The bomber set off a device as people queued to get into the club, reportedly after security guards spotted him and kept him out.
The attack happened at the entrance to the Stage club on Herbert Samuel Street, close to the promenade, Tel Aviv police chief David Tsour said.
Israeli media report the blast occurred at 2315 (2115 GMT).
Clubs in the area have been attacked by Palestinian militants in the past, notably the Dolphinarium disco, where a bomber killed 21 in 2001.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4301447.stm
The group's leaders in Gaza deny any involvement, suggesting a split, says the BBC's Barbara Plett in Jerusalem.
The bombing was the first serious blow to a ceasefire agreed by Israeli and Palestinian leaders earlier this month.
Seven people have been detained by Israeli and Palestinian forces over the bombing, which injured about 50 people.
A statement issued by Mr Mofaz's office said the defence minister had ruled that "Israel sees Syria and the Islamic Jihad movement as those standing behind the murderous attack in Tel Aviv".
However, he did not immediately threaten retaliation against Damascus.
The leader of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the attack and promised to "hunt down" those responsible.
'Calm ended'
An Islamic Jihad official in Damascus told news agencies the bombing was in retaliation for Israel's violation of the truce.
"The calm period with the [Palestinian] Authority was an agreement for a month and that has ended," the official, who gave his name as Abu Tareq, told the Associated Press.
"Israel has not abided by the pacification period. This is the main reason that led to this operation," he added, without giving details.
Islamic Jihad officials in the West Bank and Beirut echoed the claim, but the group's leadership in Gaza continued to deny that it was responsible.
Our correspondent in Jerusalem says the statements could suggest a divide between Islamic Jihad's inner circle, based in Gaza, and its outside leadership in Syria, which is said to have more influence over cells in the West Bank.
Brothers arrested
Israeli soldiers raided the village of Deir al Ghusun, just north of the West Bank town of Tulkarem, on Saturday morning and imposed a curfew.
Two brothers of the bomber, identified by the Israelis as 21-year-old Abdullah Badran, were arrested, as well as the local imam.
Palestinian sources say the bomber was a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, but also recruited and funded by Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants - though a Hezbollah spokesman in Beirut has denied this.
Palestinian police separately arrested two people over the blast.
The two men held by Palestinian security forces were also arrested in the Tulkarem area. One source described them as Islamic Jihad militants.
'Third party'
"The Palestinian Authority will not stand silent in the face of this act of sabotage," Mr Abbas said in a statement after meeting security chiefs.
Mr Abbas blamed a "third party" but went no further.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was expected to meet security chiefs to discuss a response.
A top Sharon adviser, Raanan Gissin, told the BBC that the Palestinian Authority must take "the necessary, concrete steps to dismantle the terrorist organisation, collect the illegal weapons, make the necessary arrests".
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for the Palestinians to take "immediate, credible steps" to find those behind the attacks.
Militant attacks had fallen away in the days after Israel and the Palestinian Authority reached a truce at a summit in Egypt on 8 February.
The bomber set off a device as people queued to get into the club, reportedly after security guards spotted him and kept him out.
The attack happened at the entrance to the Stage club on Herbert Samuel Street, close to the promenade, Tel Aviv police chief David Tsour said.
Israeli media report the blast occurred at 2315 (2115 GMT).
Clubs in the area have been attacked by Palestinian militants in the past, notably the Dolphinarium disco, where a bomber killed 21 in 2001.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4301447.stm
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"It is our desire to move forward in the process that we are committed to – but we cannot continue and to remain indifferent to the murderous activity of terror groups," said Mofaz, referring to Israel's promise to transfer control of certain Palestinian towns to the PA.
The Defense Minister added that Israel has proof connecting Syria directly to the attack, and Security Intelligence officials will be deployed to present this information to representatives worldwide at the beginning of the week.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1109301662303
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=535153
Sharon calls on PA to fight terror
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH AND JPOST STAFF
At the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon issued a short statement in response to the suicide bombing on Friday night in Tel Aviv in which four people were killed and 50 wounded. According to the text of the statement, which was posted on the Prime Minister's website, Sharon confirmed that Islamic Jihad was behind the bombing saying, "The orders came from Islamic Jihad in Syria. We know this for a fact." He said that the immediate test of the PA was to act against Islamic Jihad.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1109301662303
Rachel Corrie a waisted life
Rachel Corrie used money from her parents and many American taxpayers to go into the disputed territories to stand up for terrorists who pride themselves for their hyper murder and massacre productivity. She showed a blatant disregard for the real values of human rights which encompass Jews too and spat at the collective face of her homeland and all her fellow Americans, and instead of using her money to become a real peace activist, she chose to go out into the supposed real world and try to make it a better place for Palestinian child murderers at the expense of the most basic human rights. She showed biased human rights values instead of the popaganda that is preferable to her pro murder agenda. . Rachel Corrie abandoned the concept of truth and liberty which our world leaders encourage us to cherish, and decided that there was something more important in life than making money, namely to support Palestinian terrorists in their endeavor of massacring Israeli Jews.
Yes, Rachel Corrie is a traitor to the real concepts of peace and human rights. She wasted her life and the money she got also from American taxpayers, fighting for human rights of murderers at the expense of fundamental human rights of the group they murder