Palestinians arrest Islamic Jihad leaders

GAZA (CNN) -- Palestinian security forces arrested two senior leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza Sunday, Palestinian officials said.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo told CNN that Abdullah Alshami was picked up by Palestinian security forces. Other Palestinian security sources said Muhammed Al-Hindi also was arrested.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for Wednesday's suicide bombing that killed 17 Israelis, including 13 soldiers, at Megiddo junction in northern Israel. The attack prompted Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to order the arrest of leaders of the militant group.

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Palestinian Islamic Jihad is dedicated to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel.

The group operates from Gaza and carries out attacks there, in the West Bank and in Israel. The group has carried out military operations against Israeli soldiers and civilians; it introduced suicide bombings to Israel in 1992.

Different groups called Islamic Jihad exist in many Arab countries. They have no connection with one another and do not coordinate actions.

Wednesday's bombing, in which an explosives-laden car drew up alongside a bus and blew up, came as CIA Director George Tenet finished two days of meetings with Palestinian and Israeli leaders intended to initiate Palestinian Authority reforms to help stop suicide attacks.

Alshami announced Islamic Jihad's responsibility for the attack and said the timing was unrelated to Tenet's trip.

"We are taking responsibility for the attack today as published by the news agencies," he said last week. "Of course it will affect matters on the ground, but it was not our aim to embarrass the Palestinian Authority during the Tenet visit. Our aim is to fight the Israeli occupation."

The Palestinian Authority issued an arrest warrant for Alshami last October after Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for a drive-by shooting that left four Israeli women dead in Hadera, outside the West Bank.

Two other Islamic Jihad leaders were arrested at that time.