BBC Correspondent Jon Leyne reports from Jonesboro (1'24')

The US President, Bill Clinton, has expressed his horror at the killing of four students and a teacher at an Arkansas school.

They died when two youths, wearing camouflage clothing, opened fire as students assembled outside during a fire alarm at the school in Jonesboro, 130 miles northeast of the state capital, Little Rock.

Eleven children and teachers were injured.

President Clinton: 'profoundly saddened' by the attack

Speaking in Entebbe, Uganda, during his tour of Africa, Mr Clinton said he was "profoundly saddened" at the attack in his home state.

Mr Clinton said he wanted to extend his condolences to the families of the victims in Jonesboro, a town he said he knew well.

"The American people today should send their thoughts, their prayers, their hopes for the people in Jonesboro," he said.

BBC Correspondent Maurice Walsh: The incident has shaken the community (3'01')

The incident was the third fatal shooting at a US school in five months and the fourth in which a gunman opened fire on a group of school-children.

Mr Clinton said he was very worried about the trend.

"I don't want the American people to jump to conclusions but with three horrible tragedies like this, involving young people who take other people's lives and in the process destroy their own, we have to see if there are some common elements.

President Clinton :'Profoundly sad' (1'23')

"I'm going to ask the Attorney General [Janet Reno] to find whatever experts there are in our country on this and try to analyse this terrible tragedy and the other two," he said.

Two boys, aged 11 and 13, who were arrested within 30 minutes of the shooting in a wooded area near the school, are to appear in court later on Wednesday.

Sgt Darrell Stayton: 'One had four weapons, the other five'

Craighead County Sheriff Dale Haas said the boys would be arraigned on Wednesday on multiple murder charges.

He said if they were convicted as juveniles they would only be able to be detained until the age of 18.

Revenge attack

People in Jonesboro are still trying to work out a motive for the attack. Some reports suggest the boys, who were students at the school had a grudge against a girl who had jilted one of them.

Confusion outside the school after the shootings

Pupils at Westside Middle School said the 13-year-old had recently split up with his girlfriend and a day earlier had said "he had a lot of killing to do".

They also said he had recently begun bragging about involvement with a gang, and had made numerous threats on Monday.

"He told us that tomorrow you will find out if you live or die," said Melinda Henson, who described herself as a good friend of the boy.

"He told me yesterday that all the people who broke up with him, you know, he's going to come to school tomorrow and shoot them," said 12-year-old Charles Vanoven.

"I thought he was just kidding around."

Other pupils believed the 13-year-old was specifically targeting one of the girls who was wounded.

"He said he was definitely going to shoot Candace because she had broken up with him," said 11-year-old Kara Tate.

Kim Candace Porter, who is the boy's former girlfriend, is in a stable condition at St Bernards Regional Medical Center.

School violence rising

The National Centre for Education Statistics said there were 11,000 violent school incidents across the country last year in which a weapon was used, including 7,000 robberies and 4,000 sexual assaults.

In an eerily similar situation last December, a schoolboy in the southern state of Kentucky opened fire on fellow students with an automatic pistol, killing three girls and wounding five others.

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