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Yassar Arafat just signed his Death Warrant. Time to open another can of Dubya WhoopAss. I wonder how Long Before the Marines are hitting the beach. Or a B2 Plucks a Flea from Firma Palistine terra



<img src="http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/images/10/15/top.jeep.reut.jpg" border=0>


From Cnn:

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>GAZA CITY (CNN) -- A massive explosion rocked a U.S. diplomatic convoy in northern Gaza on Wednesday, Palestinian sources said, with several casualties reported.

It was not immediately known whether the blast was caused by a suicide bomber or a roadside explosive.

Israel Radio is reporting four Americans are dead. But that report could not be immediately confirmed.

The explosion occurred near Beit Hanoun. Video of the scene showed several demolished vehicles, with bloodstains nearby.

The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv said it is aware of the explosion and is looking into the details.

U.S. Ambassador John Wolf was not in the country at the time of the attack, despite media reports that said he was in the convoy, the embassy said.
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<img src="http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/WORLD/meast/10/15/mideast.blast/story.guard.reut.jpg" border=0>
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>GAZA CITY (CNN) -- At least three people were killed and another seriously wounded Wednesday when an explosion hit a U.S. convoy in northern Gaza near the border with Israel, according to U.S. and Israeli sources.

Palestinian sources said all the casualties were Americans. The three-car convoy was carrying at least 12 Americans and was escorted by Palestinian security, Israeli sources said.

According to the Palestinian sources, the explosion occurred immediately after the Palestinian police cars passed by, with the blast hitting the first U.S. vehicle in the convoy.

U.S. Embassy personnel who were in the convoy were not harmed, the U.S. sources said.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat offered his condolences and condemned the attack.

"These people were here to help us," Erakat insisted, saying an attack on what he described as U.S. monitors was not in the interest of the Palestinian people. "I don't think this was a deliberate attack against the Americans."

Erakat said the Americans were in Gaza at the request of the Palestinians as part of the U.S.-backed "road map" for peace in the region.

The road map -- a plan put forth by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations -- calls for an end to "violence and terrorism" and envisions an independent Palestinian state existing side by side with Israel.

The three bodies and the injured person were evacuated into Israel, U.S. and Israeli sources said.

It was not clear if the explosion, near Beit Hanoun, was the result of a suicide bombing or a roadside bomb. It was also not clear of the convoy was the target of the attack.

The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv said it was aware of the explosion and is looking into the details.

U.S. Ambassador John Wolf was not in the country at the time of the attack, despite media reports that said he was in the convoy, the Embassy said.

Video of the scene showed a crater, about three feet deep and eight feet across. A white van was toppled, and another large vehicle lay on its top, almost completely destroyed.

A pool of blood was also visible near the scene of the explosion.


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Edited by - Mrmudd on Oct 15 2003 02:59 AM

From reuters:

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>Four Guards Killed as Blast Hits U.S. Convoy in Gaza
Wed October 15, 2003 05:56 AM ET
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters) - A roadside bomb ripped through a U.S. diplomatic convoy in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and Israel Radio said four security men were killed in the first attack on U.S. officials in three years of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

The convoy included representatives from U.S. Middle East envoy John Wolf's office and from the CIA, the radio said. But U.S. officials said Wolf was not in the region at the time.

A silver Cherokee jeep used by American diplomats was completely destroyed by an apparent roadside bomb, which left a large crater. Blood and wreckage were splattered yards away and a black shoe lay on the ground.

It was the first time that a convoy of U.S. diplomats had been targeted in Israel or the Palestinian territories where violence has raged since a Palestinian uprising for statehood began three years ago after peace talks stalled.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie quickly condemned the attack and promised an investigation.

A Reuters witness saw a detonator wire stretched for about 330 feet away from the blown-up vehicle into a factory area at the entrance to the Jabalya refugee camp, near Gaza City.

"We were inside our storage room, and heard the siren of police cars approaching. A few seconds later there was a huge explosion and shrapnel from body parts and debris from damaged M-16s (assault rifles) were scattered everywhere," said witness Ahmed Samir.

Israel Radio and security officials said four people were killed. The nationalities of the dead were not immediately known though the radio said they were security guards.

A U.S. embassy spokesman confirmed that a U.S. vehicle had been hit by an explosion in the Gaza Strip. He said the car was "a security contractors' car, it was not an embassy vehicle per se."

Roadside bombs have frequently been detonated against Israeli troops operating in parts of the Gaza Strip. The discovery of a detonator wire by a Reuters correspondent at the scene indicated the blast may have been timed to hit the convoy.

"I was standing by the side of the road when a convoy led by a Palestinian police car drove by. It was followed by two foreign jeeps and at the back there was another Palestinian police car," a witness, Khaled Abu Nour, told Reuters.

"There was an explosion and one of the two jeeps blew up and was torn apart. We saw on the ground three people dead. They looked like they were foreigners....a fourth was badly wounded."

Hospital workers bundled up body parts in a bedsheet and one body was brought to the morgue in Shifa hospital, Palestinian medics said. The Soroka hospital in Beersheba said a seriously wounded victim was being evacuated there by helicopter.

Israeli tanks appeared to be moving toward the area after the blast, Palestinian security officials said.
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From Foxnews:
<img src="http://www.foxnews.com/images/104766/12_2_101503_gaza2.jpg" border=0>

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip — A roadside bombing rocked a U.S. diplomatic convoy in the Gaza Strip (search) Wednesday, killing at least two Americans and wounding four others, Fox News has learned.





Reuters news service is reporting that four U.S. diplomatic guards were killed in the attack, while Palestinian security officials say at least three Americans were killed.

There were also conflicting reports about the cause of the explosion. Palestinian security officials said a homicide bomber jumped in front of the vehicle, but Fox News has confirmed that a roadside bomb or land mine went off under the car.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Israeli reports initially said John Wolf (search), the head of a U.S. peace monitoring team, was in the convoy. However, State Department said that Wolf "was not even in the country," though declined any other comment on the attack.

The vehicle was part of a U.S. convoy driving near the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun, just south of the Erez crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia (search) denounced the attack. "We strongly condemn this incident and we will conduct an investigation and we will follow it to find the source of this attack," he told reporters in the West Bank.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said in to a television station that the Americans were in Gaza to monitor the peace process. "These are American martyrs that came here at Palestinian request," he said.

Mohammed Radwan, a Palestinian taxi driver, said he was at a nearby gas station when the blast went off.

"I was about to fill up my car with gas when I saw the American convoy passing," Radwan said. "There was a Palestinian police car in front and then three big (U.S.) cars. When the third one passed, an explosion went off."

"The first two cars drove quickly and stopped far form the explosion. Palestinian security people jumped out of the car and rushed to the car that had blown up. When I tried to approach them, they shouted at me to leave. I saw two people covered with blood lying next to the car."

Palestinian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said three Americans were killed and one was wounded. U.S. diplomatic sources said the people in the targeted car apparently were security guards for the U.S. diplomats traveling in the other vehicles.



The body of one of the Americans was taken to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

The device went off near a gas station on Gaza's main north-south road. The explosion tore the van in half and left the wreckage twisted with the tires up in the air. The pavement was stained with blood and littered with bits of flesh.

An AP reporter saw a gray wire with an on-off switch leading from the scene of the attack to a small concrete room at the side of the road.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

Palestinian witnesses, meanwhile, reported that about 1 kilometer east of the site of the explosion, Israeli tanks began moving closer.

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What does it say on the back of the new Clancey book? Something like "...have a plan to deal with the tiger's teeth before you kick him in the ass." Seems to me having both the Israelis and U.S. P.O.'d at you is not condusive to health living.<img src=icon_smile_angry.gif border=0 align=middle>

Hajji, you can run, but why die tired?

_________________
\"Those who hammer their guns into plows
will plow for those who do not.\"
- Thomas Jefferson

I fore see massive heart attack brought on by CIA supplied viagra, and parkisons medicine. OOP that was ten times the elephants dose.