4.12.2002

Ah, the beauty of a controlled press....

ArabNews: Female bomber kills six Israelis

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 13 April — US Secretary of State Colin Powell failed to extract a timetable from Ariel Sharon for an Israeli pullback from Palestinian areas when he met the prime minister yesterday. Asked whether Israel had agreed to end its operations in the West Bank by a specific time, Powell said, “I don’t have a specific answer on timing.”
Note the headline, but see the first paragraph. Indeed, it's not until the third paragraph that you get...

The Palestinians responded [to Sharon's showing "no sign of imminent pullout" of the West Bank] with a bomb attack at a bus stop in Central Jerusalem. A Palestinian woman blew herself up, killing six Israelis and wounding nearly 90. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed responsibility.

Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy said the young woman first headed for an open-air market but changed course upon seeing police guarding the entrance and set off her bomb at the nearby bus stop.
Somehow I doubt the timing was so precise. More like an accident, or timing designed more to embarass Powell. Certainly encourages more "peace process," does it not?

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