Israel Foils New Bomb Attack

July 13, 2002

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli forces prevented a vehicle filled with explosives from entering Israel from the West Bank city of Qalqilya, the Israel Defense Forces said.

An Israeli reserve force spotted the car about to leave Qalqilya -- located on the border with Israel -- on Friday night and fired into the air, prompting the driver to stop. Everyone inside the car ran into the city, the IDF said.

Saturday morning, Israeli police searched the car and found four large explosive devices, three gas canisters containing flammable materials and another three canisters filled with nails and other sharp metal objects, according to the IDF.

Meanwhile it was revealed that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell this week reiterating Palestinian reform efforts while urging him to pressure Israel to take reciprocal steps, a State Department official said.

Arafat lists in the lengthy letter a variety of steps already under way to bring about reform, including announcing elections.

In return, Arafat called on Powell to use U.S. clout to "pressure Israel" to take reciprocal steps, such as releasing Palestinian tax revenue, withdrawing from Palestinian territory and easing closures, officials said Friday.

While the officials were not sure if Powell plans to respond to Arafat's letter, they said there "wasn't much of a chance" in light of President Bush's speech last month calling for a change in Palestinian leadership.

One official said it was "not wise" for Arafat to make demands of Israel considering that Bush put the onus on Arafat to make significant reforms.

Powell is scheduled to travel on Tuesday to New York to hold a meeting with the so-called Madrid Quartet -- made up of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia -- and the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan.

A high-level meeting between the Palestinians and Israelis that had been scheduled to take place Saturday night has been postponed until Monday.

The Palestinians -- led by chief negotiator Saeb Erakat, Finance Minister Salam Fayed and Interior Minister Abdul Razak Yihiyeh -- were to meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Cabinet Minister Dan Naveh.

The four met earlier this week in what were described as wide-ranging talks, covering financial and political issues and other topics.

Peres won approval from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to hold the meetings. Officials said Peres was told by Sharon he could discuss steps to ease restrictions on residents of the West Bank and ways to renew security cooperation.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/07/13/mideast/index.html