Twin attacks hit Jerusalem

A suicide bomber disguised as a religious Jew wearing a skullcap and a prayer shawl, stepped onto a commuter bus during rush hour in the city of Jerusalem and blew himself up this morning,
killing seven people and wounding 21, according to the Jerusalem
Post.

Four victims of the attack on the bus are listed in serious condition.

Witnesses and rescue workers said the bomber blew himself up in the front of the bus which was completely ripped apart by the force of the blast. The bomber apparently got on the bus near
its point of origin.

Five dead passengers were still in their seats in the front of the bus, one leaning out a window, and another with legs still crossed, an hour after the blast, according to the newpaper.

Less than half an hour later, another suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt but killed only himself by a roadblock not far away at the entrance to the city. He was apparently being apprehended as he tried to board another bus.

The bus bombing is the first such attack in Jerusalem since last November. The attack occurred just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held historic talks with Palestinian Prime
Minister Mahmud Abbas.

The talks had already been marred by a Palestinian suicide attack in the divided West Bank city of Hebron last night. A Jewish settler and his pregnant wife were killed by an attacker also dressed as a religious Jew.

This morning’s attacks prompted Sharon to postpone a trip to Washington to meet with President Bush, according to Reuters.

Sharon was to have met Bush at the White House on Tuesday to raise his reservations about the ”road map,” which stipulates confidence-building steps leading to a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by 2005.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either Jerusalem blast. However, the family of a 21-year-old Hebron Palestinian man said the Islamic group Hamas had informed them
that he had carried out the bombing in the volatile West Bank city, reports Reuters.