Three suicide bombers killed

THREE Palestinians blew up their explosives-laden car next to a Gaza Strip army post yesterday, killing themselves and wounding four Israeli soldiers, military sources said.

The apparent suicide bombing, in a bloc of Jewish settlements, occurred after news emerged of secret truce talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and a top Palestinian official. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the car blast. The Israeli sources said the Palestinians drove up to the post and a passenger opened fire at the soldiers before the vehicle exploded. Israel’s president Moshe Katzav yesterday gave Mr Sharon a formal nod to form a coalition government led by his right-wing Likud party, which crushed rivals in a January 28 election. He will have up to 42 days to build a coalition.

Political commentators said Mr Sharon, a 74-year-old former general, could go slow, awaiting a possible US war on Iraq that could draw Iraqi missile attacks against Israel and bolster his call for a broad government.

Likud won a third of parliament’s 120-seats in last month’s poll in which voters backed his tough stance in a 28-month-old Palestinian uprising for statehood. Mr Sharon will try to build a coalition against the backdrop of talks he held last week with Ahmed Korei, speaker of the Palestinian legislature, and the refusal of the main opposition Labour party to join a unity government he hopes to form.

“The plan has been to encourage the Palestinians to act energetically and with determination to stop terror,” Dov Weisglass, head of Mr Sharon’s office, told Israel Radio on Saturday, outlining the prime minister’s proposal to Mr Korei. “It proposes that everywhere they succeed in preventing attacks or showing that they are making serious efforts to do so, Israel will react accordingly by changing its military deployment in the area and easing restrictions on trade and movement,” he added. Such deals have collapsed in the past, and Israeli forces reoccupied most of the West Bank in the middle of last year following suicide attacks in Israel. The Palestinian Authority has said the incursions have paralysed its security forces.

The Sharon-Korei meeting, confirmed by Palestinian officials, represented the first high-level talks between the two sides in nearly a year. Mr Sharon has shunned Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, accusing him of fomenting violence, an allegation Mr Arafat denies. Washington has appealed to Israel and the Palestinians to rein in violence ahead of any military action it may take in the Gulf.

“The contacts were welcomed and overseen by the Americans as part of their efforts to contain the conflict,” said a source in Mr Sharon’s office.

Mr Arafat declined to confirm Mr Korei’s meeting with Mr Sharon, but said on Saturday: “We will deal with all parties for the sake of peace.”

Israeli and Palestinian officials said additional contacts on Mr Sharon’s offer were expected today.

A Labour spokeswoman welcomed the talks with Mr Korei but said the party was firm on staying out of Mr Sharon’s government. Labour has called for an immediate and unconditional resumption of talks on Palestinian statehood. Mr Sharon has said anti-Israeli violence must stop first.

At least 1,823 Palestinians and 700 Israelis have been killed since the uprising began in September 2000.