Jerusalem Bomber Kills Self, Cops

A Palestinian suicide bomber blew herself up in Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing two Israeli policemen who had stopped her as she approached a crowded bus stop, authorities said. At least 16 people were wounded, authorities said.

The attack occurred despite a tight closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which was imposed to prevent attacks over the Jewish high holidays, reports CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger. The casualties were low because of tight security; the bomber was apparently stopped by a security guard and then blew herself up.

The French Hill neighborhood has been the scene of Palestinian suicide bombings in the past.

Meanwhile, Sharon announced that Israel's evacuation of the Gaza Strip will begin next summer and will take about 12 weeks, reversing an earlier decision to speed up the pullout.

Facing considerable opposition, much of it from his own party, Sharon said several weeks ago that the evacuation of the 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank would be carried out at the same time, aiming for the beginning of 2005.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack, the first in Jerusalem since Feb. 22. The group identified the bomber as Zainab Abu Salem, a woman from the Askar refugee camp near Nablus in the West Bank. Relatives said she was 19 years old.

The two Border Police officers killed were themselves 19- and 20-years-old, and had joined the force earlier this year.

Authorities said Abu Salem had been headed for the bus station across the street where 20-30 people were standing when she was stopped by Mamoya Tahio and Menache Komeni.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, under fire from his traditional hard-line supporters for a plan to pull out of all Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements next year, said Israel's fight against militant groups would continue "unabated."

"It was a grave attack, something which obliges us to continue fighting terrorism as we have in the past," Sharon told Channel One television.

In a separate radio interview, hours before the attack, Sharon hinted that Israel will one day kill Arafat, the same way it has attacked leaders of the militant Hamas group.

"We acted against Hamas people and since then more people have been added to this list," Sharon told Israel Radio. "When the time is right, we will act the same way with Arafat."

Sharon has made similar threats against Arafat in the past but never taken any action. The United States opposes such an attack on the Palestinian leader.

The suicide bomber was headed for a crowded bus stop when two paramilitary officers approached her and apparently prevented her from reaching the area, witnesses and emergency officials said.

"The operation of border police officers today in Jerusalem ... prevented a very big attack," Jerusalem police chief Ilan Franco told reporters at the scene.

The blast destroyed the bus stop, killing the two policemen, leaving shards of glass scattered in the road as the smell of burnt rubber wafted in the air.

Police said the woman was carrying seven to 11 pounds of explosives in a backpack.

A 32-year-old Palestinian woman from the nearby neighborhood of Shuafat said the blast occurred about 200 yards from her home.

"I heard the sound of an explosion — the sound was very big. We came out, we saw the smoke and the Jewish people running away," said the woman, identifying herself as Umm Muhammed.

Wednesday's attack was the first suicide bombing in Israel since Aug. 31, when two bombers killed 16 people in the southern city of Beersheba.

Palestinian militants have staged more than 100 suicide bombings inside Israel in four years of fighting. Women have carried out at least eight of the attacks.

Most of the women were tied to the Al Aqsa group, although the Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have also dispatched women.

Some counterterrorism experts have speculated that the militant groups have turned to using women because they raise less suspicion among Israeli soldiers.

Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat condemned the attack, saying the Palestinians oppose all violence aimed at civilians. He called on the United States to use its influence to bring the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

At the United Nations, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said the attack "shows that the Palestinians wouldn't like to abandon this tool of terrorism against us."

In other violence Wednesday, a Palestinian militant was killed by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, while three Palestinian civilians were wounded in clashes with troops in the West Bank.

Sharon's Likud party is bitterly divided over pullout plan, and Sharon has been left with a minority coalition in parliament after defections of several hard-line partners. He has relied on the opposition Labor Party to block attempts to bring down the government.

Sharon himself was once the chief architect of Jewish settlements, but he now believes the continued occupation of Gaza — where 8,500 settlers live amid 1.3 million Palestinians — is unsustainable.

"With all due respect to the Likud, I am also prime minister and my responsibility is for the continued existence, development and strengthening of the people and state of Israel," Sharon told Israel Radio on Wednesday.

After four years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, Sharon says the pullout will reduce friction with the Palestinians and head off international peace initiatives.

He refuses to negotiate with the Palestinian leadership, charging that Arafat's administration is involved in terrorism.