8 held after US convoy attack

2003-10-16 10:18

Gaza City - Palestinian security services on Thursday arrested eight suspected militants in a refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip in the wake of a deadly bomb attack on a US diplomatic convoy, security sources said.

At least three of those arrested in the Jabiliya refugee camp, which lies about two kilometres from the scene of the blast on Wednesday, were members of the Popular Resistance Committees, the sources said.

Claimed and denied

The fringe group initially claimed responsibility for the blast in an anonymous phone call to AFP but later issued a statement denying involvement.

According to some witnesses, there was an exchange of fire between security services and residents in the camp as the arrests took place.

US President George W Bush on Wednesday said that the bomb attack, which left three American security personnel dead, was evidence of a failure by Palestinian authorities to crack down on militants.

"Palestinian authorities should have acted long ago to fight terror in all its forms," said Bush.

"The failure to create effective Palestinian security forces dedicated to fighting terror continues to cost lives."

Bush said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was blocking needed reforms, such as handing real power to the Palestinian prime minister and empowering that office to control all Palestinian security forces.

"The failure to undertake these reforms and dismantle the terrorist organisations constitutes the greatest obstacle to achieving the Palestinian people's dream of statehood," he said.

- AFP