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Wont disarm without political resolution { April 30 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-8/105168780018080.xmlAbbas' new government that "nobody can disarm the resistance movements without a political resolution."
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-8/105168780018080.xml
Suicide bomber hits cafe in Tel Aviv
Blast mars debut of Palestinian leader
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
BY AARON DAVIS
KRT NEWS SERVICE
TEL AVIV, Israel -- Hours after Palestinians approved a new prime minister, raising hopes for renewed Mideast peace negotiations, a suicide bomber set off a massive explosion in a Tel Aviv cafe, killing himself and at least four others and wounding 55, one of them critically and eight seriously.
The blast, which came at 1:10 this morning at a seafront restaurant called Mike's Place across the street from the American Embassy, underscored the greatest challenge facing the new Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas.
The bomber was stopped by a security guard at the entrance and, after a short argument, blew himself up. One witness told Israel radio, "We saw fire coming out of the pub and burned people running out."
Israel Army Radio reported this morning that an American tourist was among the injured.
Early today, a militia linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement and the Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing, a spokesman for one of the groups said.
A spokesman for the Fatah-linked Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the attack served a dual purpose: to avenge the killing of one of their members by Israeli troops and to send a message to Abbas' new government that "nobody can disarm the resistance movements without a political resolution." He said the bomber came from the West Bank city of Tulkarem, but did not supply a name.
In an interview yesterday with Knight Ridder, Abdul Aziz Rantisi, a prominent Hamas leader, said his group would continue suicide attacks against Israeli civilian targets.
"We are fighting a standing occupation," Rantisi said. "The interest of the Palestinian people is in the liberation of its lands, and not in the negotiations."
If Abbas clashes with Hamas, Rantisi said, he faces "civil war."
Likewise, Bassam Saedi, the commander of Islamic Jihad in the West Bank town of Jenin, told Knight Ridder that Abbas is a puppet for Israeli and American interests.
In Washington, the White House condemed this morning's attack but said it would not scuttle the state of a new peace initiative.
"We condemn this cowardly act of terrorism. These homicide bombers are not only attempting to murder innocent civilians, but they are also attempting to kill the aspirations of the Palestinian people for their own free, democratic, prosperous state," said Sean McCormack, a White House National Security Council spokesman.
During a speech yesterday, Abbas denounced terrorism and warned militants that his new security chief would seize illegal weapons. But he didn't call on militant groups to begin an immediate cease-fire, as many had expected, and his demands that Israel abandon settlements in the West Bank and Gaza drew sharp criticism from Israeli officials.
The Palestinian Legislative Council, stripping day-to-day control from Yasser Arafat, overwhelmingly voted for Abbas as the first Palestinian prime minister.
"There will be no other decision-making authority except for the Palestinian Authority," Abbas said. "On this land and for this people, there is only one authority, one law and one democratic and national decision that applies to us all."
U.S. and world leaders praised the confirmation of the new Palestinian government as a first step in a three-stage plan to create a Palestinian state by 2005 and called on Abbas to end the suicide bombings that have continued for 31 months.
The United States and its allies in the so-called road map peace plan now face the enormous task of persuading Palestinians and Israelis to make painful concessions.
"This new Palestinian government faces challenges that will be as tough as nails, but so does the Israeli government and so do the Americans," said Nabil Shaath, the new Palestinian foreign minister. "Only the Americans can monitor and evaluate the peace process. Only the Americans can give the road map meaning."
Israeli and American leaders have said Abbas must prove he can control militant groups before the peace plan can accelerate. However, Palestinian militant groups have warned Abbas that if he tries to crack down on them before Israel withdraws from Palestinian areas, Israelis and Abbas' government will suffer.
The militant groups present Abbas with his clearest danger. He told the council that he wouldn't stand for the status quo under Arafat's regime, in which militant groups acted independently of the Palestinian Authority and attacked Israelis at will.
Abbas said success depended on Palestinians attaining the ultimate peace prize: an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza that began in 1967. "The internal situation cannot be separated from the painful political reality in which we live," he said.
An administration official said the road map could be released today, when the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer, may share the plan with top Israeli officials, while his counterpart at the U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem would do likewise with Abbas' government, said diplomats, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
President Bush is under intense pressure from Israel's allies in Congress not to insist that it make concessions early in the process.
But people who have met with top White House officials in recent days have come away with the impression that Bush, in the aftermath of the Iraq war, is serious about making a major effort to advance peace between Israel and the Arabs.
Yesterday, the issue of Palestinian prisoners took center stage at the confirmation vote for Abbas.
Israeli officials have arrested hundreds of Palestinian men, who they charge are members of militant groups or were planning attacks against Israel. Demonstrators, including women carrying pictures of their imprisoned sons, paraded outside Arafat's compound yesterday.
Abbas said freeing prisoners and easing travel restrictions on Palestinians and on Arafat, who is under house arrest, were among his top priorities.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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