U.S. condemns bombing, keeps Zinni in region

Bush: 'This cold-blooded killing must stop'

Bush: "The road is going to be hard...It'll test our will. It'll test our determination."

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Strongly condemning the suicide bombing that left at least 19 people dead during a Passover observance in Israel Wednesday, top Bush administration officials said Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni will remain in the region and vowed that the U.S. will not bow to terrorism in its pursuit of peace.

"The United States will remain engaged," Secretary of State Colin Powell said outside the State Department. "We will not let terrorists or terrorism take us away from our desire to see peace in this region and for these two peoples to live side by side in peace. Terror cannot be allowed to prevail."

Zinni has been in the region for about a week trying to bring both sides back to the negotiating table. "Gen. Zinni will remain in the region. He will remain engaged. He has made progress in recent days in bringing the two sides closer together toward the start of the Tenet plan," said Powell.

President Bush condemned the bombing as "cold-blooded killing" and called on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to do everything in his power to put an end to the violence that has plagued the region.

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"This callous, this cold-blooded killing must stop. I condemn it in the strongest of terms," Bush said. "I call upon Mr. Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to do everything in their power to stop the terrorist killing, because there are people in the Middle East who would rather kill than have peace."

"My heart breaks for those innocent lives that are lost on a daily basis, and today there was another suicide bomber who murdered innocent Israelis," Bush said during a speech in Atlanta.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Powell also directed his remarks at Arafat and other top Palestinians.

Powell said such attacks "destroy the very vision that the Palestinian Authority stands for" and he called on Arafat to appear on television and speak on radio to relay that message to his people.

"Tell them that they are destroying their own desire and vision for a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel behind secure and recognizable borders," Powell said.

He added, "Palestinian leadership must act to stop this kind of terror."

U.S. diplomats in Tel Aviv have delivered that message to Arafat by phone, a State Department official said.

"We have been obviously strongly encouraging him once again to focus on peace," the official said.

The attack killed at least 19 people, and wounded 172. The victims were at a seaside hotel marking the beginning of Passover with a traditional dinner known as the Seder.

Despite a mounting death toll in the region, Bush held out hope in his speech: "I believe we can achieve peace in places where people think we'll never have peace. The road is going to be hard, there's no question about it. It'll test our will. It'll test our determination."

Zinni meetings to continue

After weeks of sharply escalating violence in the region, Bush dispatched Zinni earlier this month to attempt to implement a cease-fire between the Israelis and Palestinians. He has been meeting with both Israeli and Palestinian officials.

State Department officials said that, because of the Passover holiday, the next trilateral security meeting cannot take place before Thursday evening.

Members of Zinni's delegation have been holding working-level meetings with officials from both sides on compromise proposals for moving the sides into the cease-fire negotiated last June by CIA Director George Tenet.

Zinni presented a set of ideas to Israeli and Palestinian security officials at a trilateral meeting Sunday. The ideas center around a series of tangible steps each side could take toward a cease-fire.

Administration officials said the Zinni proposals start with Arafat making a series of arrests of people inside his security services described as "influential" in terrorist attacks.

Should Arafat make the arrests, Israel would then withdraw from specific Palestinian-controlled areas it reoccupied over the past few months. The exact areas of withdrawal are still being "haggled over," one administration official said.

Before the suicide bombing, Bush said in South Carolina Wednesday that the Zinni talks were advancing. "We're making good progress," he said.

"Whether or not we're able to sign an accord soon or not remains to be seen, but progress has been made," Bush told reporters.

State Department officials said the president was referring to the fact that the parties were speaking in very specific terms about steps each side could take to end the standoff based on timing and sequencing presented by Zinni.

Analysts say U.S. must stay involved

Middle East analysts say it's critical that the United States remain deeply engaged now.

"The United States is the only one who can really bring these parties together and bridge the horrendous gap which is getting worse every day," said Wayne Owens, a former Utah congressman and president of the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Opportunity, a Washington think tank.

Senior U.S. officials said they will remain engaged because "it is too important not to."

But one senior Bush aide also said in some ways, the latest violence shows what the Bush administration has been saying all along. "We can create an atmosphere ... show them the path ... but it is up to them."

"We are going to continue trying ... it is up to them to do this," the aide said.