Arafat addresses citizens after bombing

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- In the wake of a deadly suicide bombing in Israel, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told Palestinians in a televised address Wednesday that he has ordered security services to prevent "terror attacks against Israeli civilians."\nThe address, in Arabic, came as Israel prepared a tough response to the attack in a suburban pool hall that killed 15 bystanders, weighing options including a large-scale military operation and Arafat's expulsion.\nIsraeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who received word of Tuesday's bombing during a White House meeting with President Bush, cut short his trip and promised swift retaliation. Palestinian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they widely expected the Gaza Strip to be targeted by Israel.\nThe Islamic militant group Hamas, which claimed responsibility for Tuesday's bombing, is based in Gaza, which was spared in the last Israeli offensive, "Operation Defensive Shield," launched March 29 against Palestinian militants.\nThe United States has repeatedly demanded Arafat unequivocally condemn terrorism in Arabic to his people. His address appeared an effort to fulfill that demand and to forestall reprisals.\n"I gave my orders and directions to all the Palestinian security forces to confront and prevent all terror attacks against Israeli civilians from any Palestinian side or parties and at the same time to confront any aggression or attack on Palestinian civilians, whether by Israeli soldiers or settlers, which we all condemn," he said on Palestinian television.\nHowever, Arafat said, his police were too weak to carry out his orders in the wake of Israel's large-scale military operation aimed at crushing Palestinian militias in the West Bank. He appealed to the United States and the international community to help support his forces so they could implement his orders.\nArafat also expressed his "full commitment and my readiness to participate with the U.S. administration and the international community in their war against terrorism."\nIn Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the bombing endangered the hopes of peace efforts.\n"Every time one of these events happens, it takes us off a course we were on for awhile," Powell said. "It's a course we ultimately have to get back to ... At the end of the day, we have to find a political solution."\nA senior Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Sharon and Bush agreed that Arafat, if not removed, should be elevated to a purely symbolic position, leaving another leader in charge of running the Palestinian Authority.\nIf Arafat were not removed, Israel would hold no more negotiations with the Palestinians, the official said.\nIn Tel Aviv, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer met with army commanders Wednesday to discuss potential responses in advance of a planned meeting between Sharon and his top Cabinet officials Wednesday night.\nDefense spokesman Yarden Vatikay declined to comment on whether an incursion into Gaza was discussed.\n"Where there are terrorists we will act, and are acting now," he said. "There are no limits on us."\nAt Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, there appeared to be a potential solution to the five-week standoff. Under the proposed agreement, 26 Palestinians in the church will be sent to Gaza, most of the rest would be set free and 13 suspected militants would remain in the church until a country could be found to take them, a Palestinian police officer inside the church said. Western diplomats confirmed the details of the proposal.\nItaly, which had been designated to take the militants, balked Tuesday at hosting the deportees, despite U.S. and Vatican pressure.\nIn a new attack Wednesday, just 12 hours after the pool hall bombing, a bomber detonated explosives at a bus stop in northern Israel. No bystanders were injured. Police believed the assailant was killed, but as a bomb squad robot with a long pincer arm dragged the man across a road, he lifted his head.\nThe bomber, who authorities said was slightly injured, was taken to a hospital.\nThe pool hall bomber walked into the crowded third-floor "Sheffield Club" in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Letzion shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday and set off metal-studded explosives which, according to some accounts, were hidden in a suitcase. The blast blew out walls and witnesses said victims flew through the air into the parking lot below.\n"Suddenly, everything was dark and there were bodies on the floor, and broken chairs and tables and dust," said patron Suzie Biton, who was waiting for her boyfriend to buy chips for a slot machine when the explosion shook the club.\nThe bomber and 15 Israelis were killed. More than 60 were wounded, including more than a dozen who were in serious condition. The club, which police said was operating without a license, had no guard at the door, a violation of Israeli security procedures.\n"Israel will act strongly" against Palestinian militants, said Sharon, adding that the mission of the previous military offensive has not been completed. \n"The battle continues and will continue, until all those who believe that that they can make gains through the use of terror will cease to exist," he said in Washington.\nEducation Minister Limor Livnat, who traveled with Sharon, said "it is very possible that in the end, there will be no choice and it will be necessary to expel Arafat," but that Sharon has not yet made a decision. Sharon held Arafat responsible for Tuesday's attack.\nHamas, which has carried out scores of attacks on Israelis in the past 19 months of fighting, said there would be more bombings.\nHamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin said the militant group had not been cowed by the Israeli offensive.\n"When they harm and hurt Palestinian civilians their civilians will be harmed," he said. "We are trying to prove another thing: that the operation they carried out in the West Bank has failed and will not bring them security."\nHamas did not identify the bomber. Hamas supporters in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp near Sidon distributed candies to children in celebration of the bombing.\nPalestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi said the recent Israeli offensive into Palestinian territories was responsible for the renewed attacks.\n"They are dragging the whole region into more violence," she said. "It should have become clear now that there will be no peace or security for the Israelis without peace and security for the Palestinians and without full respect for the human rights of the Palestinians," she said.\nThe back-to-back bombings ended a period of relative calm in Israel. The previous bombing was April 12, when a woman blew herself up in an outdoor market in Jerusalem, killing six bystanders.\nArmy commanders have said they could reduce, but not stop suicide attacks.\nOn Wednesday, Israeli forces entered the West Bank town of Tulkarem and opened fire on the town's refugee camp, which has been under curfew for four days. No one was injured.\nThe Israeli army said it arrested two local Hamas leaders who were involved in deadly suicide bombings in Israel and uncovered a suicide bomber's explosives belt, which it detonated. A further 10 Palestinians were arrested for alleged terror links, the spokesman said.\nIn their meeting, Sharon and Bush were unable to bridge major differences on the Middle East crisis, including whether talks in the region should result in a Palestinian state, an outcome that the United States believes is essential.\nThe president said he would send CIA Director George Tenet to help build a Palestinian security force to fight terrorism.