US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell is reassessing his scheduled meeting with Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat after today’s suicide bombing in Jerusalem, US officials said.
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Mr Yasser Arafat besieged West Bank headquarters in Ramallah earlier today. Photograph: Reuters
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State Department spokesman Mr Richard Boucher told reporters Mr Powell was "looking at the whole situation in terms of the bombing and where we are, where we stand."
A senior official first said Mr Powell, who is trying to broker a ceasefire in Israeli-Palestinian violence, was going ahead with plans to see Mr Arafat tomorrow in his besieged West Bank headquarters in the city of Ramallah.
But minutes later he had a different line after the bombing that claimed seven lives.
"He (Powell) is now looking at the whole situation," said the official who asked not to be named, adding that the entire schedule for tomorrow was up in the air.
"We have to look at tomorrow because of what happened today," said the official. Previously, when asked if the Powell-Arafat meeting was off, he had said, "No. No change."
Mr Powell had an initial round of talks with Israeli leaders today and was touring Israel's troubled northern border with Lebanon when a young Palestinian women blew herself up near a crowded downtown marketplace in west Jerusalem.
While up north, he condemned the suicide attack and said it "illustrates the dangerous situation that exists."
On his return, Mr Powell's helicopter flew over the scene of devastation where six people and the bomber died and 84 others were wounded, eight seriously, the senior US official said.
"We hovered around. We saw ambulances and rescue workers running. It was terrible," he said.
AFP