Jerusalem blasts mar US mission

Palestinian militants said they planted the car bombs

Two powerful car bomb blasts have rocked central Jerusalem as the new US regional envoy begins a visit aimed at brokering a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians.

The attacks happened in a shopping and entertainment area close to the police headquarters.

We're going to give the ceasefire a chance. But at the same time we have a responsibility to defend our citizens

Israeli Government spokesman Raanan Gissin

Police said nobody was injured in the first, while two were slightly hurt in the second explosion about nine hours later.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said it carried out the first attack, while the Islamic Jihad movement said it was responsible for the second.

US envoy William Burns has begun talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and he is later due to meet the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon.

Campaign

A BBC correspondent in Jerusalem, Paul Wood, says the explosions are beginning to look like a concerted campaign, adding to a sense of national emergency following a daily diet of violence and disaster in the past week.

Emergency services arrived on the scene quickly

Witnesses reported a series of detonations during the morning rush hour on Sunday, along with the second car bomb blast.

The streets were less crowded than usual, on the eve of a Jewish holiday, and there were no reports of serious injuries.

The car bomb blast - heard across the city - set an adjacent building on fire. Police said the device was a combination of a mortar bomb and nails.

Israeli radio reported the discovery of six devices.

Search

Police put up roadblocks and deployed helicopters to search for the overnight bombers, who - police believe - drove off in a second car after parking the one with the bomb.

Yasser Arafat said the UN was failing to protect the Palestinians

"We were lucky," said Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert. "Think what would have happened if this explosion succeeded."

Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said 25 people had been detained, but that police were not sure they were involved in the explosion.

Israeli officials accused Mr Arafat of mounting a deliberate campaign of incitement.

On Friday, explosions in Hadera and the Gaza Strip killed three apparent suicide bombers and injured more than 60 Israelis.

Israel is still reeling from its worst ever civilian disaster - the collapse of a building in Jerusalem that killed at least 23 people attending a wedding party on Thursday.

US role

US President George Bush has urged Mr Arafat and Mr Sharon to put into effect the recommendations of the US-sponsored Mitchell report.

The conflict has claimed more than 500 lives since September

According to Israeli spokesman Raanan Gissin, Mr Burns will press for a ceasefire, in line with the report which also calls for confidence-building measures by both sides.

Israel has rejected one of the report's key recommendations - a freeze on Jewish settlement expansion.

Correspondents say there is little optimism surrounding the mission by Mr Burns.

Muslim pressure

Muslim states have vowed to halt political contacts with Israel in an attempt to pressure it to end eight months of clashes with the Palestinians.

Meeting in Qatar, Islamic foreign ministers issued a statement saying they had decided to "halt all political contacts with the Israeli Government so long as the aggression and blockade against the Palestinian people and its national Authority continues".

Egypt, Jordan and Mauritania are the only Arab countries to have full diplomatic ties with Israel.