Arafat blamed for latest suicide attacks
Israel has criticised Yasser Arafat for the latest suicide attacks in Jerusalem which left seven people dead and 20 injured.
Israeli officials are now meeting to discuss their response to the suicide bombing, but Government spokesman Avi Paznar has wasted no time in accusing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of forming a fatal alliance with Palestinian terrorist organisations.
Palestinian sources say the bomber who killed seven Israelis in the French Hill area of Jerusalem, was a university student and Hamas supporter from Hebron.
The attacks took place hours after a meeting between the Palestinian and Israeli Prime Ministers which ended inconclusively and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has now postponed a trip to Washington.
One bomber detonated his device on a bus in the French Hill area of Jerusalem, killing himself and seven passengers in the front part of the bus and injuring many more.
As in the suicide bombing which took place in Hebron earlier today, killing an Israeli man and his pregnant wife, the bomber was apparently disguised as a religious Jew.
A skullcap and prayer shawl were found on the man's body.
He had taken bus number six near the boundary between east and west Jerusalem and detonated his device while on board.
A second suicide bomber blew himself up in northern Jerusalem half an hour after the bus bombing, killing only himself.
As a result of the suicide bombings, Mr Sharon postponed his visit to Washington to meet President George W Bush for talks on the roadmap to peace.
The talks between Israeli leader Mr Sharon and Abu Mazen are the first such high-level meeting in almost three years.
The two men talked about ways to reduce violence but they reached no obvious agreement.
Mr Sharon's office did not say when the Prime Minister would reschedule his trip to Washington.
Israeli spokesman Rannan Gissen says Mr Sharon is committed to the American-backed roadmap for peace but security has to be addressed first.
"The issue is not the roadmap," he said. "The issue is [an] unprecendented wave of terror activity, a trail of blooded terror which has engulfed us since the meeting with Prime Minister Abu Mazen last night.
"We have seven dead already and the suicide bombing in French Hill in Jerusalem, over 20 wounded, and still many more alerts. So we have to take care of that first."
The Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister, Nabul Sha'ath, has condemned the latest bombings but also accuses Israel of escalating the situation by its actions against Palestinians.
"The logic that it's security that brings peace is absolutely ridiculous and has always failed," he said. "It's peace that brings security, not the other way around."