White House denies Mid-East divisions

Palestinians vow revenge for Israel's killings

The White House has moved to deny reports of a rift between Vice-President Dick Cheney and the State Department over US policy in the Middle East.

Mr Cheney aroused Palestinian anger in comments made on American TV late Thursday in which he said the Israelis had "some justification" in their policy of killing selected Palestinian militants because they were trying to protect themselves.

What the vice-president was suggesting is Israel sees justification for their actions. The Palestinians see a justification for their actions

White House

His comments came after US Secretary of State Colin Powell had denounced an Israeli raid on the West Bank town of Nablus as "too aggressive" and would increase tension in the region.

The White House now says Mr Cheney's comments were taken out of context, and has denied any support for Israel's policy of targeted killings.

"What the vice president was reflecting on is how both parties see justification in the actions they take. It is the policy of the United States to oppose these killings," spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters.

Earlier, Nabil Abu-Rudaynah, a senior adviser to the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, said Mr Cheney's comments did not encourage peace but would destabilise the whole region.

The White House says Mr Cheney's remarks were taken out of context

A BBC correspondent in Washington says Mr Cheney's remarks are strong evidence that there are splits within the US administration on the handling of foreign affairs.

This is not the first example of apparent disagreement within the administration regarding its policy towards Israel and the Palestinians.

During his visit to the region in the end of June, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the US supported sending international observers to the area.

That position was immediately denied by the White House, and later clarified and qualified by Mr Powell himself.

'Collaborators' rounded up

In the Middle East itself, Palestinian security forces were widely reported to have rounded up 60 suspected collaborators with Israel in response to Israel's attack on Hamas activists in Nablus on Tuesday.

Collaborators have been blamed for giving Israelis information, which led to a helicopter attack that killed eight Palestinians, including two senior Hamas officials and two children.

A Palestinian boy pretends to be a suicide bomber.

However, later on Friday, the AFP news agency quoted Tawfiq Tirawi, the Palestinian head of intelligence in the West Bank, as denying that collaborators had been arrested.

The Palestinian Authority has been quick to act against suspected collaborators. Following Tuesday's attack, three were sentenced to death after a 10-minute trial at a court in Nablus.

Their sentences must be ratified by Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

But Palestinians have been taking things into their own hands - at least three suspected collaborators have been killed on the West Bank in the past few days.

A man police said was a known collaborator was found dead, shot in the face, near Bethlehem on Friday, and fears are growing of a surge in vigilante attacks.

"The Palestinian Authority rejects and condemns every attempt by any party to take the law into its hands," the authority said in a statement.

Violence

In all, 20 Palestinians have died in violence this week - including six other militants, who died in a blast on Monday, which Palestinians said was caused by Israel.

On Friday a number of Palestinians were hurt in Gaza, one seriously, in clashes with Israeli forces, while a six-year-old Jewish boy was injured when Palestinians fired a mortar at a Jewish settlement.

In Nablus, thousands attended the funeral of a Palestinian killed on Thursday by Israeli troops and there were clashes in Hebron and Ramallah following Friday prayers

And Israeli police say they stopped a Palestinian woman trying to carry a bomb into the Tel Aviv central bus station.

Men under the age of 40 were barred from attending prayers at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on Friday amid fears of further tension at the site which is holy to both Muslims and Jews.