Israel foils 'suicide bombing'

Israeli bomb disposal experts detonate the bomb

Israeli soldiers have dramatically prevented a Palestinian suicide bomber from blowing himself up on a bus crowded with commuters, Israeli police have said.

The driver of the passenger bus pushed a young Palestinian man off the vehicle, which was travelling from Jerusalem to the town of Qiryat Shemona in northern Israel, after he became suspicious of a bag the man was carrying.

Israel radio reported that two soldiers who had been travelling on the bus overpowered the man and managed to separate him from the bag.

Palestinians have demanded revenge for the deaths of Hamas members in Nablus

Police, who later blew up the bag in a controlled explosion, said it contained a 22-pound bomb and was packed with nails and scrap metal.

Police spokesman Yossi Hasson said the Palestinian, aged 16 and from a Palestinian village near to where he got onto the bus, tried to detonate the bomb during the scuffle but the mechanism failed.

Search

Israeli security forces have launched a search for two accomplices said to have dropped the youth off near a bus stop in the Israeli farming village of Tel Teomim.

Reports say Israeli troops searching for the accomplices in a helicopter, grabbed the wrong man and flew off with him.

The reports say 22-year-old Murad Bsharat was later safely returned to the exact spot he was picked up at.

State of alert

Israel has been on a heightened state of alert amid warnings Palestinian militants are preparing to carry out a wave of attacks against Jewish targets.

Palestinian radicals have vowed to take revenge against Israel after its forces bombed a building in the West Bank town of Nablus on Tuesday, killing eight Palestinians, including two Hamas activists.

Yasser Arafat urged the Pope to back a plan for international observers

As tensions continued to escalate on Thursday, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Pope John Paul II as part of a drive to win support for a team of international observers to monitor clashes between Israel and the Palestinians.

The meeting was the tenth between Mr Arafat and the pontiff, a long-time supporter of the Palestinians' demand for self-determination.

Pope urges end to violence

In a statement issued after the talks, the Vatican said the Pope reiterated his call for an end to the violence, "be it the fruit of attacks or reprisals", but did not mention the issue of international observers.

A BBC correspondent in Rome, David Willey, said Mr Arafat conveyed to the Pope his fears that the latest killings of Palestinians in Nablus may mark the beginning of new attempts by Israel to bring down the Palestinian Authority with a programme of targeted assassinations.

In an interview with a leading Italian newspaper, La Stampa, Mr Arafat claimed that the Israeli cabinet had this week approved a plan called "Oranin" to kill high-level Palestinians.

Israel has denied the claim.