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CNN Live Today

Palestinian Authority Condemns Latest Suicide Bombing

Aired May 23, 2002 - 11:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the Middle East. The Palestinian Authority is condemning yet another suicide attack in Israel. A militia linked to Yasser Arafat is taking responsibility for that bombing.

Here now, CNN's Martin Savidge from the Tel Aviv suburb Rishon Letzion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The transformation of terror. The Rishon Letzion crews worked throughout the night and into the day, restoring Israeli's latest suicide bombing attack to what it was, a peaceful beautiful park in the middle of a seaside town.

That's not what it was Wednesday night when a suicide bomber approached those gathered for an evening of cards and conversation and blew himself up, killing two people and wounding dozens more. The blast, as one person put it, ripping through the city's heart.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: It's like the heart -- attack in the heart, not in the head. Really. In the heart.

SAVIDGE: By daylight, the crowds returned, but the talk was different -- about anger, sadness, and what should come next.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We'll react, and they will react. We will kill them, and they will kill us. And maybe after 5,000 people will be dead on both sides, then we sit to the table. Why now? Why not now?

SAVIDGE: Many Israelis here say they are frightened, haunted by a suicide bomber who dyed his hair in order to blend, in order to kill.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: That's the scariest part, that you can't even identify them right now. I mean, they look like anyone and even women and children.

SAVIDGE: This is the second time in two weeks this city has been struck by a suicide bomber. The first attack killed 17 people when an explosion tore through a pool hall. (on camera): Some people say this latest blast would have been much worse if it had happened inside. But others point out the fact that it happened out in the open only underlines what little can be done. How do you protect the entire outside?

(voice-over): Workers can erase the scars of terror, but, in Rishon Letzion, memories are not so easily healed.

Martin Savidge, CNN, Rishon Letzion, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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