ISRAEL: The Palestinian Prime Minister yesterday ordered his security services to arrest the militants behind the Jerusalem suicide bombing that killed 18 people on Tuesday, shattering the truce which is crucial to the US-backed "road map" peace plan.
Mr Mahmoud Abbas, who also cut off contact with Islamic militant leaders, acted after Israel shelved its planned handover of occupied cities to Palestinian control, froze high-level talks and reimposed a clampdown on the West Bank.
Israel's Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, however, was expected to sanction a series of strikes against militant targets after a cabinet meeting yesterday, irrespective of whatever repressive action might be taken by the Palestinian Authority.
With the troubled "road map" peace plan in jeopardy after the bus bombing, Mr Abbas too planned to convene his cabinet to decide on other security measures against Islamic militants which his government has hitherto hesitated to take.
"There are clear instructions (given) to security forces to follow these people, find them, put them under arrest. We have to use our authority to contain this tough situation and to stop the negative developments," the Information Minister, Mr Nabil Amr, said in Ramallah, West Bank seat of Palestinian government.
Israeli troops may have beaten Palestinian police to the punch, arresting 17 suspects in a raid on Hebron, the bomber's hometown, Israel radio said. The volatile West Bank city is largely under army occupation with Palestinian police sidelined.
On Tuesday night, a 29-year-old Muslim cleric disguised as an ultra-Orthodox Jew blew himself up on a bus full of Jewish families returning from prayers at a Jerusalem shrine. Five children, including a baby girl, were among the 18 dead.
Hamas said it was avenging continued Israeli raids that have killed militants despite the seven-week-old ceasefire.
Mr Sharon convened top security aides to discuss the way ahead after the attack, a severe setback for a peace plan aimed at defusing a militant revolt and at granting Palestinians statehood in the West Bank and Gaza.
Israeli officials suggested any military response would be tempered by a desire to avoid further damage to the peace plan.
But Mr Sharon's office said he told President Bush in a telephone call that "as long as the Palestinians don't act in a serious manner to wipe out terror, there can be no progress in diplomatic routes".
The attack was a stinging embarrassment to Mr Abbas's moderate government and its stated effort to staunch violence to qualify for a state.
It came as he was talking with militant faction chiefs in Gaza about firming up the flimsy, three-month truce.
It was unclear how Mr Abbas would crack down on militants.Palestinian security forces in the West Bank have been greatly weakened by Israeli offensives. Recent militant attacks have emanated from cities under Israel's military control.
Mr Abbas has also struggled to wrest effective power over the security organs from President Yasser Arafat, who has been accused by Israel and the United States of fomenting bloodshed - a charge he denies - and banished from US-led peacemaking.
Mr Abbas condemned the bus blast, saying it "does not serve the interests of the Palestinian people". He called off a scheduled visit to Norway next week.
Israel says Mr Abbas must start neutralising militants before Israeli forces can ease military operations. Hamas and Islamic Jihad insisted they stood by the ceasefire. But they said further Israeli raids were provoking reprisals.