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CNN Live At Daybreak

Another Suicide Attack in Jerusalem

Aired December 05, 2001 - 06:04   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the Middle East and another suicide attack in Jerusalem. It happened this morning outside an upscale hotel near the old city. CNN's Mike Hanna is in Jerusalem, has the very latest on that. Hello Mike.

MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Hello there. Well the attack took place in the early morning around about half past seven, the streets not particularly busy at that time, in a road outside a string of luxury hotels in Jerusalem. A man described by police as a suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body. No one was seriously injured in the explosion. The man himself was killed in the blast.

A number of people were treated by shock, but no serious injuries whatsoever, yet a reminder of the chain of bombing attacks that have happened in Israel over the past week, attacks in which more than 20 Israelis have lost their lives. And in response to this, for the past 48 hours Israel has been carrying out military operations in Gaza and the West Bank. These operations striking at particular targets -- police stations, facilities of Yasser Arafat security forces.

However, there has been a lull or a pause in these operations for a number of hours now, around about 18 hours. It's not clear at this stage whether Israel is waiting to see whether any steps are taken by the Palestinian authority to arrest and round up militants as Israel has demanded, as indeed the U.S. administration has demanded, whether -- if this does not happen, these type of operations may resume again.

But the situation at present, the Palestinian authority continues to insist that it will carry through its pledge to find those responsible for attacks on Israeli civilians. A number of people have been arrested in the past 48 hours. However Israel continues to insist that those who have been arrested, these are merely token arrests, that the Palestinian authority is still not meeting its pledge and cracking down on a militant organization such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which had claimed responsibility for a string of attacks against Israeli civilians. Back to you.

CALLAWAY: Mike, it is amazing that no one else was killed in that suicide bombing this morning. Any idea, perhaps, the suicide bomber set off his bomb prematurely accidentally before reaching its target?

HANNA: Well all of this is complete speculation. Nobody knows exactly why only the suicide bomber himself was killed or why he detonated the explosive at that particular time. At half past seven in the morning that street is a fairly heavily traveled with people coming into work in the center of Jerusalem. However the reason why there were less -- more injuries or less injuries then and certainly no fatalities as it been in the case of previous blasts -- pure speculation police themselves are not speculating at it about the stage whether the device detonated prematurely or for whatever reason, they are just grateful at this stage that there were no serious injuries in that bombing attack.

CALLAWAY: Yes grateful indeed. CNN's Mike Hanna joining us from Jerusalem. Thanks Mike.

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