Guard Thwarts Tel Aviv Bombing
An alert security guard prevented a Palestinian militant from driving a bomb-laden car at high speed toward a Tel Aviv night club Friday, shooting him dead before he could set off the explosives.
A new wave of bombings — including an attempted "strategic attack" on the country's largest fuel depot — rattled Israelis who had hoped a recent West Bank military offensive would crush Palestinian militias and bring a period of calm.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops also took up positions in the West Bank town of Tulkarem and imposed a curfew. In the nearby Tulkarem refugee camp, Palestinian militiamen opened fire on Israeli soldiers atop an armored personnel carrier, gunmen said.
Troops returned fire, and about half a dozen Palestinians, including a 4-year-old girl, were wounded, Palestinian doctors said. The Israeli military confirmed three of its soldiers were wounded.
The violence flared as President Bush was visiting Moscow. He and Russian leader Vladimir Putin affirmed their commitment to international talks on Middle East peace.
The language in their statement was vague and avoided the word "conference" to describe a regional meeting expected this summer which Israel says must not decide any core issues.
Arabs and Palestinians want any meeting to start implementing a Saudi-inspired land-for-peace plan.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon now is facing not only international pressure, but also pressure from within his own right-wing Likud Party. Arch-rival Benjamin Netanyahu, said Friday he planned to run for office again in the next general election, due in November 2003.
Netanyahu, who was crushed at the polls in 1999 by the Labor Party under Ehud Barak after three years as prime minister, also reiterated during a visit to Berlin that he rejected the creation of a Palestinian state.
But he said he did not want to govern the Palestinians and had no objection to their autonomy.
Also Friday, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, an adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, said general elections would be held this winter, but only after Israeli troops withdraw to positions held before fighting began in September 2000. That contradicted a statement attributed to Arafat on Thursday.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia linked to Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed responsibility for two of the recent attacks — a suicide bombing Wednesday in the suburb of Rishon Letzion and Friday's attempted car bombing.
The militant Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for "the remarkable, heroic martyrdom operation in the heart of Tel Aviv" which was foiled by a quick-thinking night club guard.
The guard who shot the suspected assailant early Friday, Eli Federman, 36, told reporters he saw a car turn sharply and race toward the club. He said he opened fire and hit the man, who started falling out of the car, setting off a blast.
"Then I fired the rest of the bullets into his head," killing him, he said. One other person, a bystander, was wounded by a fragment from the explosive, officials said.
In a leaflet faxed to The Associated Press, Al Aqsa claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the driver as Amer Shkokani, of the West Bank town of El Bireh.
In a videotaped statement, Shkokani said he was carrying out the attack to avenge the killing of Al Aqsa members by Israel. Earlier in the week, three militiamen, including a local leader from the West Bank city of Nablus, were killed in a targeted Israel tank attack.
At least 1,368 Palestinians and 479 Israelis have been killed since a Palestinian uprising against occupation began in September 2000 after peace talks broke down.