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Suicide bombing rocks new Mideast peace hopes
RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Less than a day after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat accepted a deal that could re-open an international road map for peace, killings on Thursday signaled the road might be long. A Palestinian teenager blew himself up outside a train station in the Israeli town of Kfar Saba in the midst of rush hour, killing an Israeli security guard who prevented him from entering the station and injuring 13 other people -- two seriously -- according to Israeli police and medical relief services. The bombing -- and the reported deaths of two Palestinians in a West Bank village -- came a day after Arafat and Prime Minister-designate Abu Mazen agreed to a slate of Cabinet members before a stipulated deadline, a compromise that could kickstart peace talks with the Israelis. (Full story) On the outskirts of Kfar Saba, Israeli police said an 18-year-old man approached a newly constructed train station about 10 miles northeast of Tel Aviv near the Israel-West Bank border. When he was confronted by security guards at the station's entrance around 7:15 a.m. Thursday, the man blew himself up. Israeli police said he is Ahmed Khaled Khatib, from the Balata refugee camp near Nablus in the West Bank, and they are searching for accomplices that may have driven him to the station. Authorities identified his victim as Alexander Kostyuk, 23, from Bat Yam. There was no visible damage to the train station's exterior, but video of the scene about an hour after the attack showed blood covering the steps leading into the building. In other violence on Thursday, two Palestinians were shot and killed in the West Bank village of Bani Zaid, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. An Israeli force on routine patrol was confronted by a crowd of youths in the area, according to Israeli military sources. The force fired warning shots after trying to disperse the crowd by using non-lethal methods, the sources said. The army says it is investigating if the warning shots resulted in any casualties. In the suicide bombing, The Associated Press in the West Bank said it received a telephone call in which a group linked to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. But a spokesman for Al Aqsa denied its group was responsible for the attack, indicating a new splinter group of Al Aqsa could be responsible. Rift related to plan to crack down on militantsAbu Mazen's plan to crack down on Al Aqsa and other militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad were at the center of the power struggle between Arafat and the prime minister-designate. Al Aqsa is a military offshoot of Arafat's Fatah movement; the Palestinian fundamentalist Hamas group also has a militant wing. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad is dedicated to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel. All three groups have carried out attacks against military targets and civilians in Israel and are considered terrorist organizations by the U.S. Department of State. Arafat said he feared civil war should Abu Mazen tackle the armed groups inside Palestinian society. Arafat was also opposed to Abu Mazen's proposed security minister, the ex-Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan. Arafat backed down Wednesday -- and agreed to a compromise deal put forward by Egypt -- just hours before a deadline that could have given Arafat legal permission to find a different prime minister. But Arafat was also under intense international pressure, particularly from the United States and European Union, to accept Abu Mazen as prime minister. The United States has said it will present a "road map" for peace, but only when a prime minister with real powers in place. That map could be released once Abu Mazen's government is confirmed. No talks are taking place between the Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said he will not negotiate with Arafat. Diplomatic sources have said they hope that because Abu Mazen is prime minister, the plan for peace presented by U.S. President George W. Bush can be put into motion. But under the law that established the post of prime minister, Arafat will retain final say over negotiations with Israel. CNN correspondents Jerrold Kessel and Kelly Wallace contributed to this report.
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