Arafat 'seeks to revive Mideast peace talks'

Israel has vowed to "settle" with those responsible for the Hadera bomb which killed two and wounded 55 others

WEB EXCLUSIVE Fionnuala Sweeney on the scene of the Hadera bombing

JERUSALEM -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has told the U.S. he wants to revive the stalled Middle East peace process, Israel's Foreign Minister says.

Shlomo Ben-Ami said he was told by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright that she had spoken to Arafat and that he wanted to resume deadlocked peace talks.

Ben-Ami said Albright called him after Israel's security cabinet met to discuss a car bomb that had ripped through the heart of the northern Israeli city of Hadera on Wednesday evening, killing two people and wounding 55 others.

Meanwhile the Kremlin announced that Arafat will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday at the Palestinians' request.

Both Arafat and Israel have repeatedly urged Russia to get more involved in efforts to halt continuing Israeli-Palestinian violence, which has caused more than 258 deaths since September 28.

GALLERY Scenes of Middle East violence (November 22)    VIDEO CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports on the bomb attack on an Israeli bus and the shooting of four Palestinians Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     AUDIO Israeli Government spokesman Nachman Shai reacts to the bus bombing in Hadera on Wednesday 313K/30 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Palestinian spokesman Nabil Aburudenei rejects accusations that the Palestinian Authority is responsible for the bombing 361K/35 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     MESSAGE BOARD Mideast peace

In the latest clashes, the Israeli army said it shot dead a Palestinian in the Gaza Strip on Thursday during an exchange of fire, though a Palestinian official said no one was killed.

Israeli ministers were meeting to discuss their response to the Hadera bombing. The Israeli government has already warned that it intends to "settle its accounts" with the bombers.

The military wing of the Muslim militant organisation Hamas claimed responsibility on Thursday for the attack.

"We in the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades are responsible for the martyrdom operation, the heroic operation in Hadera," an anonymous phone caller told Reuters.

The brigades were the second group to claim responsibility for the attack. The earlier claim was from a previously unknown group calling itself the Islamic Revolution for the Liberation of Palestine.

The Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades had issued a statement before Wednesday's attack warning Israel that it would attack Israeli targets to avenge army "massacres" of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Of the Arafat move, Israeli Foreign Minister Sholo Ben-Ami said: "I don't know if it is a serious proposal but this is at least what the man (Arafat) did in a phone call he initiated to her (Albright). This is what she told me last night."

"If there is anything real in this... it could be that there is a certain signalling of distress and a desire to get out of this cycle," he told Israel public radio.

"It is our obligation to allow the Americans to check out this thing."

Madeleine Albright condemned the Hadera bombing.

"We condemn this act of terror and call on the Palestinian Authority to do everything it can to prevent such acts and resume security co-operation," she said.

The Israeli government warned prior to Wednesday's Cabinet meeting that the bombers would face retribution.

Four Palestinians in two cars were killed by Israeli soldiers near a Jewish settlement in Gaza

"There are enough Palestinian terrorists that are moving freely" after the Palestinian Authority released dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants from jails earlier this fall, Israeli government spokesman Nachman Shai told CNN.

"Sooner or later we'll have to find the people responsible for that attack ... and we'll have to retaliate," he said. "The blame falls on Arafat's shoulders. He is the one who initiated this crisis. He started the violence two months ago."

The Palestinian Authority, however, denied any responsibility and, in turn, blamed Israel for the violence.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah said he did not see a breakthrough in the Middle East crisis and that Israel had "no shame, no humanity, no morals and no principles."

Abdullah, quoted by Saudi newspapers on Thursday, said: "We can never, never abandon Jerusalem because the dignity of Jerusalem is the same as the dignity of a Muslim...

"Muslims' dignity comes first and then Arabs and then other religions except the usurper Jews who are carrying out this war against children who are fighting back with stones," he said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Israeli cabinet considers response to bus bombing
November 22, 2000
Two Israelis dead, 9 injured in Gaza bombing
November 20, 2000
Arafat: 'Exerting every effort' to end violence
November 17, 2000
U.S. pushes for diplomatic end to Mideast fighting
November 16, 2000
Israel closes borders with Palestinian-ruled areas after more deaths
November 13, 2000
Hope remains for Mideast truce deal despite fatal Jerusalem bombing
November 2, 2000

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