Teenage suicide bomber's home razed

ISRAELI troops demolished the West Bank home of a teenage suicide bomber yesterday after two bombing attacks prompted Israeli warnings that peace moves will fail if the Palestinians do not start dismantling militant groups.

Two Israelis were killed and 11 wounded in Tuesday's attacks, the most serious violations yet of a ceasefire declared by Palestinian militant groups on June 29.

Palestinian officials blamed Israel, saying it has not lived up to its obligations under a US-backed peace plan and instead engaged in provocative acts, such as continued military raids.

"Israel is the side responsible for the escalation," Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr said after talks in Amman, Jordan, between Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and US envoy William Burns.

Mr Burns, a US State Department official, met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat mourned the death of a sister, Yousra Abdel Raouf Al Kidwah, who died in a Cairo hospital yesterday at the age of 77.

Mr Arafat will not attend today's funeral in the Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, where his father is also buried, said an aide, Ahmed Abdel Rahman. Mr Arafat would have to request Israel's permission to leave Ramallah, and Israel refuses to guarantee he will be able to return.

"He (Arafat) was very upset and felt great sorrow that he couldn't participate in the funeral and couldn't see her while she was ill," Abdel Rahman said.

In Israel, police said they were on nationwide alert for suicide bombings, setting up roadblocks to head off any further attacks. Israel Army Radio said intelligence sources had warnings of 21 impending attacks up from seven or eight daily warnings a week ago but a police spokesman would not say how many warnings had been received.

Tuesday's blasts, in an Israeli town and at a West Bank bus stop used by Jewish settlers, killed two Israelis and wounded 11. The two attacks were 11 miles apart and occurred within an hour of one another but were unrelated, police and army officers said.

In response, Mr Sharon said, "There can be no peace with terror."

Sharon said the attacks were the result of a "complete lack of Palestinian action" in dismantling militant groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as required by the "road map" peace plan.

As long as the Palestinians refuse to take action, "it will be impossible to move forward" on the road map, he said.

In an interview with the French daily Le Figaro, Mr Sharon said the Palestinian Authority must arrest and punish the planners of terror attacks, ban militant groups and round up weapons.