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CNN Live At Daybreak
Suicide Bomber Kills Israeli Shop Owner
Aired June 19, 2003 - 06:35 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now on to the Middle East, where there has been another suicide bombing. The attack killed an Israeli shop owner and puts the Mideast peace plan on shakier ground.
For the latest, we take you live to Jerusalem and Jerrold Kessel.
Good morning -- Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
It may be a different picture in that Michigan town, but here, it's more of the same, another Israeli killed, a 63-year-old man in a northern Israeli town close to the West Bank. But the Israeli police are saying he saved many other people. It could have been a much bigger disaster.
What happened was a Palestinian armed with a bomb in his bag, so said the Israeli police, went into the small grocery store, and he was apparently waiting to let off the bomb, killing himself, it seemed, the Israeli police say, when there would be more people at a crowded bus stop right outside. Inside the grocery, the shop owner approached him thinking he was suspicious, and that's when the bomb went off. Whether it was premature and the bomber killed himself prematurely, or whether the bomb went off by accident ahead of time, that's not clear. But he did kill the 63-year-old owner and himself. This is the latest incident.
There was another incident the night before when a 7-year-old Israeli girl was shot and killed by Palestinian gunmen in central Israel, also near the West Bank border.
This, as another confrontation is shaping up further south in the West Bank between Israelis, as Israeli police and security forces tried to remove a couple of hundred settlers who were entrenching themselves in one of those settlement outposts. This is the first of the populated outposts, which Ariel Sharon's government is intending to move and to clear the settlers out in terms of that peace map, the new peace initiative launched by President Bush a couple of weeks ago.
All of this against the backdrop of, so far, failing attempts by the Palestinian leadership under Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to get the militant groups, like Hamas and other radical elements, on board to agree to a truce in their actions against Israel. And so far, Mr. Abbas has not been successful, and the militants are saying they want to continue with their activities, but they haven't given up hope, the Palestinian leadership. This, a day ahead of the expected arrival here of Secretary of State Colin Powell, confirming he will be meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders here on a brief visit tomorrow to try to consolidate these attempts to get that truce in place and set the peace initiative on the right road. But for the moment, a lot of challenges to the American initiative, and a lot awaiting Colin Powell when he arrives here tomorrow -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Certainly so. Jerrold Kessel live from Jerusalem this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired June 19, 2003 - 06:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now on to the Middle East, where there has been another suicide bombing. The attack killed an Israeli shop owner and puts the Mideast peace plan on shakier ground.
For the latest, we take you live to Jerusalem and Jerrold Kessel.
Good morning -- Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
It may be a different picture in that Michigan town, but here, it's more of the same, another Israeli killed, a 63-year-old man in a northern Israeli town close to the West Bank. But the Israeli police are saying he saved many other people. It could have been a much bigger disaster.
What happened was a Palestinian armed with a bomb in his bag, so said the Israeli police, went into the small grocery store, and he was apparently waiting to let off the bomb, killing himself, it seemed, the Israeli police say, when there would be more people at a crowded bus stop right outside. Inside the grocery, the shop owner approached him thinking he was suspicious, and that's when the bomb went off. Whether it was premature and the bomber killed himself prematurely, or whether the bomb went off by accident ahead of time, that's not clear. But he did kill the 63-year-old owner and himself. This is the latest incident.
There was another incident the night before when a 7-year-old Israeli girl was shot and killed by Palestinian gunmen in central Israel, also near the West Bank border.
This, as another confrontation is shaping up further south in the West Bank between Israelis, as Israeli police and security forces tried to remove a couple of hundred settlers who were entrenching themselves in one of those settlement outposts. This is the first of the populated outposts, which Ariel Sharon's government is intending to move and to clear the settlers out in terms of that peace map, the new peace initiative launched by President Bush a couple of weeks ago.
All of this against the backdrop of, so far, failing attempts by the Palestinian leadership under Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to get the militant groups, like Hamas and other radical elements, on board to agree to a truce in their actions against Israel. And so far, Mr. Abbas has not been successful, and the militants are saying they want to continue with their activities, but they haven't given up hope, the Palestinian leadership. This, a day ahead of the expected arrival here of Secretary of State Colin Powell, confirming he will be meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders here on a brief visit tomorrow to try to consolidate these attempts to get that truce in place and set the peace initiative on the right road. But for the moment, a lot of challenges to the American initiative, and a lot awaiting Colin Powell when he arrives here tomorrow -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Certainly so. Jerrold Kessel live from Jerusalem this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
