Suicide bombers threaten Mid-East accord

TWO SUICIDE bombers who died in an attack on a market in central Jerusalem yesterday, have put in doubt the future of the land-for-security agreement between Israel and the Palestinians brokered by the United States last month.

The bombers, driving a red Fiat car, were seeking to enter the Mahane Yehuda market when the explosives they were carrying exploded, killing themselves and wounding 21 people. It is the second such suicide bomb in just over a week.

The Israeli cabinet immediately suspended discussion of the agreement on a partial Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank which was to take place in return for Palestinian security guarantees. It said it would only ratify the deal reached at the Wye Plantation in Maryland when Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, launched an "all out war against terror and its infrastructure".

The body of one of the bombers lay on the road yesterday morning. Minutes earlier he had triggered the bomb, which killed him and another man as they drove up to entrance to the Mahane Yehuda fresh food market.

Beside him was the wreckage of the vehicle, torn apart by an explosion so violent that it was difficult to see that the car was originally coloured red. The blast threw a large of piece of the vehicle across the road where it was lying next to another corpse, whom police said was that of a second bomber.

The attack came at just before 10am where the Jaffa road, frequently the target of bombers in the past, passes the entrance into Mahane Yehuda, which is full of small shops and stalls selling fish, fruit and vegetables. Its prices are cheap and on a Friday morning, just before the Jewish Sabbath, it is packed with shoppers making last-minute purchases.

Witnesses said that first, there was a small blast. This gave time for people to start running away. Kobi Ajami, interviewed by Israeli radio in hospital, said: "I was a few metres from my fish store when someone shouted `Smoke! Smoke! Everyone run away'. I ran into the store. We saw pieces of iron and metal and plastic flying in the direction of market."

Another female eyewitness also spoke of hearing an explosion and seeing smoke before a more powerful bomb went off in the car. She said: "I ran into one of the alleys and like a crazy woman I began to scream."

Police say the bombers were carrying the explosives in suitcases, one of which blew up prematurely. One explanation is that the two men had planned to carry their bombs into the market, which was packed with people at the time.

Casualties would probably have been higher if the force of the blast had not largely gone upwards damaging the roof of the market but leaving unscathed neatly stacked rows of eggs and lemons in a nearby stall.

People in Mahane Yehuda are quick to respond to any sign of a suicide bombing since two Palestinians blew themselves up in the heart of the market last year, killing 15 people. The bombers favour its crowded alleyways as a target because they are easy of access, always full of people and the shop-owners are famous for their stridently right wing views.

The bombing led the Israeli cabinet to end its debate on the ratification of the Israeli-Palestinian agreement. Brokered by President Bill Clinton after prolonged negotiations at the Wye Plantation there are growing fears among Israelis and Palestinians that it will be stillborn.

The cabinet statement said it would only meet again to discuss the Wye deal when Mr Arafat had moved against Islamic militants, arrested 30 Palestinians suspected of acts of violence against Israel and the Palestine National Council had voted to abrogate the Palestinian national charter. Israel is demanding tougher terms from the Palestinians than were agreed at Wye, possibly because Mr Netanyahu no longer wants to implement it. Another sign that Wye is unlikely to lead to an improvement in Israeli-Palestinian relations was a decision taken by the inner cabinet and leaked yesterday. This was to issue construction tenders for building at the Jewish settlement on Har Homa, between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, called Jebel Abu Ghneim by Palestinians.

Yair Yitzhaki, the Jerusalem police commander, said an anonymous telephone caller to the police had claimed responsibility for the Mahane Yehuda attack on behalf of Hamas, the Islamic militant organisation. He said: "We are checking on this."

The ability of Hamas to strike in the heart of Jerusalem shows that strenuous efforts by Israeli and Palestinian security forces over the last four years have failed to eliminate the group's military wing, known as Izzedine al- Qassem. But the amateur nature of yesterday's attack also shows the military strength of Hamas has been seriously weakened.

It is unlikely that suicide attacks can ever be stopped since all they require is a bomber willing to die, some explosives and a detonator.

The new suicide bombing campaign shows that some at least of the leadership of Hamas are determined to sink the Wye agreement. In 1996 the organisation ensured that Mr Netanyahu defeated Labour in the general election by suicide bombs in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Ashkelon which killed over 60 people.

A suicide bomber tried to ram a bus full of school children outside the Jewish settlement of Kfar Drom in the Gaza Strip last week. His car was intercepted by an Israeli army jeep and a soldier, as well as the bomber, were killed in the blast.

Optimism about a partial Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank was already evaporating before yesterday's attack. Mr Netanyahu has sought to restore his credibility among his right wing followers by a series of verbal attacks on the Palestinians for not implementing their side of the deal.

Hemi Shalev, an Israeli commentator, says Mr Netanyahu is "scared of a large rightist and ultra orthodox public turning its back on him, without which he has no electoral support".

Three times the prime minister refused to convene his cabinet to ratify Wye because he claimed he had not received all of a Palestinian security plan. This angered American officials who said privately that Mr Netanyahu was reneging on the agreement which President Clinton had devoted so much time to arranging.