Checkpoint bomb was intended for Jerusalem

By The Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times

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The attack near the busy Kalandia crossing north of Jerusalem came during a heightened police alert for an expected attempt to smuggle a bomb into the city, where there have been no bombings for months.

Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent offshoot of Yasser Arafat's mainstream Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Zakariye Zubeydi, 29, the head of the group in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, read out the claim of responsibility in a videotaped message. He told The Associated Press the bomb was intended for Jerusalem, but the would-be suicide bomber hastily set off the 44 pounds of explosives by remote control near the Kalandia checkpoint when he felt Israeli security forces were closing in on him.

Zubeydi said his group regretted the Palestinian casualties.

Suicide bombings have dropped sharply this year, and there has been none in Israel for nearly five months, the longest lull in such attacks since the start of the current conflict in September 2000.

There has not been a bombing in Jerusalem in nearly six months, since a suicide attack aboard a rush-hour bus Feb. 22 killed eight passengers.

But Israeli security officials said that since the start of the year, they have foiled nearly 200 attacks, about half of those would-be suicide bombings.

Israeli officials attributed the drop in bombings to the completion of part of the barrier in the northern West Bank, army raids against militants and better intelligence, which they say has led to the thwarting of many attacks.

The Kalandia checkpoint is used daily by thousands of Palestinians to cross between Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Ramallah.

The thunderous blast shook a congested stretch of road just south of Kalandia, setting at least two cars on fire and leading Israeli officials to initially suspect a car bomb had been used.
 
Later, authorities said the explosives had apparently been packed in a bag that was left in a taxi parking lot. It was not known if the assailant was among the dead or injured.

The 16 wounded included at least 10 Palestinians and at least six Israeli border police officers, according to Palestinian medical officials and Israeli officials.

Ilan Franco, a Jerusalem deputy police commander, said Israeli undercover units had been operating in the area, along with border police and army units, at the time of the explosion.

"Our working assumption is that as a result of our presence, the bomb went off prematurely, preventing an attack that was apparently intended for the city of Jerusalem," he told Israeli radio.

Zubeydi, the Al Aqsa commander in the West Bank, said in a statement that the attack was intended to avenge Israel's recent killings of several of the group's leaders and field operatives. Israeli security sources said the would-be suicide bomber was from Jenin, Zubeydi's base.

"The action is not directed against the Palestinian people," Zubeydi's statement said.

"The occupation that makes them wait at checkpoints is responsible for the casualties."

Special Los Angeles Times correspondent Maher Abukhater in Ramallah contributed to this report.