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White House condemns attacks on Israelis'The United States government deplores this violence'
By John King
CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- The White House condemned Thursday's attacks in Israel and on Israeli citizens in Kenya -- and said it stood ready to help both governments in any way as they investigate. Fifteen people died Thursday -- nine Kenyans and three Israelis, two of them Israeli children, and the three assailants -- when suicide bombers attacked a tourist hotel in Mombasa, authorities said. Dozens were injured in the attack. (Full story) In addition, Israeli officials said surface-to-air missiles were fired unsuccessfully at an Israeli passenger jet as it took off from Mombasa's airport. In Beit Shaen, Israel, two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a central bus station near a polling location for the Likud party primary. Four Israelis were killed at the scene, and a fifth later died of his wounds. (Full story) The two Palestinians were killed after an exchange of gunfire with Israeli police and soldiers who were at the bus station, Israeli officials said. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the shooting in a call to the Reuter News Agency. The group has carried out numerous attacks against military targets and civilians in Israel and in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. In March 2002, the U.S. State Department designated it as a foreign terrorist organization. A White House spokesman said it was premature to speculate whether al Qaeda played a role in the attacks. "Obviously the United States government deplores this violence," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a telephone conversation with CNN. "We stand ready to assist the governments of Kenya and Israel as they investigate these attacks."
President Bush was briefed on the attacks by a National Security Council aide traveling with him in Texas for the Thanksgiving holiday. Bush then phoned his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, back in Washington for additional information, Johndroe said. Authorities in Kenya and Israel have suggested a likely al Qaeda role in the Kenya attacks, because of the use of surface to air missiles. But Johndroe said, "It is premature to speculate on any al Qaeda role at this early stage. We are not ruling anything in or out." Meanwile, the U.S. State Department has decided not to update its existing worldwide travel warning to Americans following the attacks in Mombasa, a senior State Department official told CNN Thursday. "It's pretty strong as it stands," the official explained, adding that the decision would be re-evaluated if there is new intelligence about terrorist threats to American citizens. The Bush administration has offered assistance to Israel and Kenya, and a couple of foreign national investigators working for the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi have been dispatched "to support" the investigation in Mombasa. CNN State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel contributed to this report.
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