Palestinians leader Yasser Arafat on Thursday condemned the suicide bombing carried out by a Palestinian in West Jerusalem earlier in the day and pledged to take immediate actions against those responsible for the bombing attack.
Arafat told reporters at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah "We would take all the needed and urgent measures to put an end to all those actions and those who stand behind it."
Arafat said that he strongly condemns the operation that took place in West Jerusalem "against innocent Israeli civilians."
A suicide bomber blew himself up in downtown Jerusalem Thursday afternoon, killing at least two Israelis and wounding 87 others.
Meanwhile, Arafat said that the Palestinian National Authority would exert every possible effort to make the mission of US peace envoy General Anthony Zinni succeed.
"Our aim is to end the escalated cycle of violence and to start immediately implementing Tenet plan and Mitchell report in order to achieve a just and comprehensive peace for our children and their (Israeli) children," said Arafat.
Earlier, the PNA issued a statement condemning the suicide bombing and calling for stopping attacks on civilians "in order to allow US peace envoy General Anthony Zinni to continue with his mission."
The statement also said "These attacks are pouring into the windmill of the Israeli occupation and reinforce the occupation's claims that the Palestinian people are not seeking peace."
( March 22, 2002)
