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Suicide bomber strikes outside Jerusalem hotel

A suicide bomber set off explosives outside a central Jerusalem hotel during morning rush hour yesterday, killing himself, lightly hurting two bystanders and further rattling a nation already edgy after a wave of deadly weekend attacks.

The explosion followed two days of Israeli military strikes in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that left two Palestinians dead and more than 100 injured. Three missiles hit just 50m from Yasser Arafat's office in the West Bank town of Ramallah, though Israel said the Palestinian leader was not the target.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for yesterday's blast which went off just seconds after 7:35am. The assailant had explosives packed with nails and bolts strapped to his body and was crossing the street near the David Citadel Hotel when he detonated the bomb, said Police Chief Mickey Levy. Two people who had been waiting at a nearby bus stop were lightly hurt.

Blood covered a front wall of the hotel, near the walled Old City's Jaffa Gate, and police closed the area to search for more explosives. US envoy Anthony Zinni -- who came to the region last month in hopes of jump-starting peace talks -- was staying at a nearby hotel.

Palestinian Cabinet Minister Ziad Abu Zayyad condemned the attack and said such bombings "cause great damage to the Palestinian national interest."

Palestinian security officials said they now had 151 suspected militants in custody.
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