Blast: Abbas blames 3rd party

2005-02-26 13:57

Ramallah - Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said Saturday a "third party", which wanted to wreck the peace process, was behind a suicide attack at a nightclub in Tel Aviv that left four Israelis and the bomber dead.

"There is a third party which wants to sabotage and destroy the peace process," he said after a meeting with the Indian government's Middle East envoy Chinmaya R Gharekhan.

"They are saboteurs but we will not allow anybody to sabotage" the peace process, he added.

Asked about the possible involvement of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah in the attack, Abbas said "we are not accusing anybody."

"Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have denied any involvement and, as a consequence, it is therefore a third party which is looking to sabotage the peace process.

"Our security services are investigating and looking for this unknown third party," he added.

Abbas convened an emergency meeting of his security chiefs in the aftermath of the attack as he pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The security services "have been mobilised since 02:00 in all the villages to find those responsible" for the first attack since a ceasefire announcement at a landmark Israeli-Palestinian summit on February 8, he added.

Abbas also said the Palestinian Authority had made contact with the Israeli government after the attack in a bid to limit the fallout.

"We contacted the Israeli side immediately after the attack and have exchanged information and views. We are concerned that this attack does not have repurcussions for the peace process."

The United States and European Union "have been informed about the measures that we have begun to take", he said. "The international community understands our position."

- AFP