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American Morning

Suicide Bomber Strikes Popular Falafel Stand

Aired July 30, 2002 - 08:02   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Watching the situation in Jerusalem again. The word came out about 90 minutes ago. For now a suicide bomber, we're told, has hit central Jerusalem.

Our bureau chief there, Mike Hanna, tracking the very latest and joins us live now -- and, Mike, and I know we've talked the last hour. What more do we have now?

MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, what we have now is the fact that the situation has stabilized. Police saying a narrowly averted major disaster in the heart of Jerusalem. Police saying that five Israelis were wounded, none of them in a serious condition, following a suicide bomb blast in Jerusalem.

This took place in a street called Hanevi'im Street, parallel to the major arterial road through the heart of downtown Jerusalem, Jaffa Road.

Now, according to police, a suspicious man was seen. They attempted to stop him. He ran away from them and then detonated an explosive device in a fast food store, a very popular falafel store in that neighborhood. He killed only himself. He likely wounded four people and he moderately wounded one. These casualty figures from the police.

Police saying as well that the situation could have been far, far more serious if he had managed to get into downtown Jerusalem proper, a matter of two minutes walk away, where there were lots of crowds in the streets. Lunchtime it was, at half past one Jerusalem time. So lots of crowded crowds in the streets this particular day.

So police characterizing this as narrowly averted major disaster in the heart of Jerusalem. No Israeli fatalities. The suicide bomber the only death in the incident.

We've heard one claim of responsibility from the Al Aqsa Martyr Brigade. This an armed offshoot of Yasser Arafat's Fatah Movement. Arafat himself has reportedly condemned this latest attack.

We've also had from Palestinian sources as well as from Israeli police the confirmation that the suicide bomber was a 17-year-old from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, literally down the road from Jerusalem.

So five people injured, none of them in a serious condition, the suicide bomber dead -- Bill.

HEMMER: Mike Hanna live in Jerusalem.

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