US urges Arafat to stop attacks

The car bombs coincided with a US diplomatic push

The new US envoy for the Middle East, William Burns, has urged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to stop attacks by Palestinian militants against Israel, following two car bomb blasts in Jerusalem.

"Sadly there was further violence in Jerusalem today, two terrorist attacks. I urged Arafat to do everything possible to stop it," Mr Burns said.

He was speaking after talks with Mr Arafat in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Mr Burns is due to hold talks later on Sunday with the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. His mission is aimed at brokering a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians.

Jerusalem blasts

The explosions rocked central Jerusalem just hours before Mr Burns began his talks with Mr Arafat.

The blasts fuel fears that the violence may again spin out of control

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

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

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.

Mr Arafat has said he can only rein in the militants and Palestinian anger when Israel ends the building of Jewish settlements.

Israel last week declared a unilateral halt to offensive action against the Palestinians, and Mr Burns said he would urge Mr Sharon to continue to show restraint.

US pressure

US President George W Bush has urged both sides to put into effect the recommendations of the US-sponsored Mitchell report.

The conflict has claimed more than 500 lives since September

Mr Burns said he had a "constructive" meeting with Mr Arafat "about the implementation of the Mitchell report on ending the violence and resuming negotiations".

But the BBC's Simon Ingram in Jerusalem says the prospects could hardly be bleaker for Mr Burns' mission.

Mr Sharon is under pressure from hardliners in his government and from sections of public opinion to respond forcefully to what Israel sees as a campaign of provocation.

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

Mr Burns is seeking not only a ceasefire, but a timetable for additional measures that would eventually coax the two sides back to the negotiating table.

Siege mentality

Correspondents say the spate of attacks inside Israel has fuelled a siege mentality.

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

An Israeli police spokesman said 25 people were detained after Sunday's bomb blasts, but that police were not sure they were involved in the explosion.

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

The streets were less crowded than usual, on the eve of a Jewish holiday.

Mortar rounds

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

Police said the mortar rounds were sent flying through the air from the force of the blast, some landing on a rooftop and in a public park. They did not explode.

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.