Reuters

Bulldozer on Jerusalem rampage before Obama visit

Tue Jul 22, 2:45 PM

By Rebecca Harrison

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Palestinian rammed a bulldozer into vehicles on a Jerusalem street on Tuesday before a visit by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who condemned the attack and pledged to push for a peace deal.

The attacker wounded at least 16 people, one seriously, before being shot dead just down the road from the hotel where Obama is due to stay. It was the second such incident in Jewish west Jerusalem in three weeks.

"Today's bulldozer attack is a reminder of what Israelis have courageously lived with on a daily basis for far too long," Obama told a news conference in Amman. "I strongly condemn this attack and will always support Israel in confronting terrorism and pursuing lasting peace and security."

Obama, who was to fly to Israel later in the day, pledged to start working for a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks from his first day in office but said it was unrealistic to expect a U.S. president to "suddenly snap his fingers and bring about peace."

"The Israeli government is unsettled. The Palestinians are divided between Fatah and Hamas. And so it's difficult for either side to make the bold move that would bring about peace," Obama told reporters in Amman.

Obama discussed Israeli-Palestinian matters with King Abdullah of Jordan, who later extended the U.S. presidential candidate the rare courtesy of driving him personally onto the airport grounds in his car.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who faces a corruption probe that could force him from office, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who lost his hold on the Gaza Strip to Hamas Islamists a year ago, aim to reach a statehood agreement before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office in January.

But disputes over Jewish settlement building and violence on both sides have marred the negotiations.

"MURDER"

The attack occurred while Israeli President Shimon Peres hosted Abbas less than a kilometer (half-mile) away, the first visit by a Palestinian president to Israel's official presidential residence.

Israeli police identified the driver as Ghassan Abu Tair, a 22-year-old Palestinian from a village in an area of the occupied West Bank that Israel considers part of Jerusalem and whose residents have freedom of movement in the city and Israel.

Police detained Abu Tair's father and questioned the family at their home, relatives said, adding he had no militant ties.

"He goes to work in the morning and comes back in the evening. He has no other activities," said his uncle, Mohammed Abu Tair, 63. "We are surprised by what happened. We do not know what went wrong."

A police spokesman said a civilian opened fire at the bulldozer, which kept moving until police shot and killed him.

The bulldozer also hit a bus. Emergency services said at least 16 people were wounded, one seriously. After the attack, police set up a cordon around the yellow bulldozer and the slumped body of the driver inside.

"This was another attempt to murder innocent people in a senseless act of terrorism," Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The attack was praised by Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip as "a natural reaction to the crimes of the (Israeli) occupation."

Abbas "condemned and rejected" the attack and told reporters that such incidents "hurt our reputation and peace in general."

Obama, scheduled to hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday, is due to stay at the King David Hotel, less than 200 meters (yards) from the scene of the attack. Police said they had no immediate evidence to suggest it was linked to the visit.

The area is one of the most heavily guarded in a city hit by multiple suicide bombings during a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000.

A bulldozer attack in Jerusalem on July 2 killed three Israelis. Its Palestinian driver, a resident of Arab East Jerusalem, was shot dead by an off-duty soldier and police.

(Additional reporting by Adam Entous, Mohammed Assadi and Avida Landau; Writing by Jeffrey Heller, Editing by Sami Aboudi)

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