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U.S. envoy condemns Palestinian attack on bus
    JERUSALEM, Dec 12 (Reuters) - U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni 
condemned a Palestinian attack on an Israeli bus on Wednesday in 
which 10 people were killed as a "murderous act of terror", and 
called on the Palestinian Authority to arrest those responsible. 
    "Palestinians must act against these groups and they must 
act now," Zinni said in a statement. 
    The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed group linked to 
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah group, claimed 
responsibility for the attack on the bus near a Jewish 
settlement in the West Bank, saying it was in retaliation for 
Israeli killings of Palestinians. 
    The violence on Wednesday dashed an agreement which Zinni 
secured earlier in the week from both sides to seek 48 hours of 
calm in an attempt to ease tensions after nearly 15 months of 
conflict in which nearly 1,000 people have been killed. 
    It included two Palestinian suicide bomb attacks near a 
Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip. Three people were injured. 
    Zinni's remarks were released before the Palestinian 
Authority said in a statement Arafat had decided to close down 
all institutions belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, militant 
groups which have launched suicide bombings against Israel. 
    "There can be no justification or excuses for not acting to 
combat terror in a sustained and comprehensive manner," Zinni 
said. "...Arafat and the Palestinian Authority must move 
immediately to arrest those responsible for these attacks and to 
destroy the infrastructure of the terror organisations that 
support them." 
 ((Jerusalem newsroom, 972-2-537-0502, 
jerusalem.newsroom@reuters.com)) 
 
12 DEC 2001 20:39:15