JERUSALEM, April 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Ignoring the still going Israeli aggression against the Palestinians, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is reassessing his scheduled meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after Friday's bombing in Jerusalem, according to U.S. officials.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters in washington that Powell was "looking at the whole situation in terms of the bombing and where we are, where we stand."
A senior official first said Powell, who is trying to broker a ceasefire in Israeli-Palestinian violence, was going ahead with plans to see Arafat on Saturday in his besieged West Bank headquarters in the city of Ramallah.
But minutes later he had a different line after the bombing that claimed seven lives and wounded 84 people, eight of them seriously.
"He [Powell] is now looking at the whole situation," said the official who asked not to be named, adding that the entire schedule for Saturday was up in the air.
"We have to look at tomorrow because of what happened today," said the official.
Previously, when asked if the Powell-Arafat meeting was off, he had said, "No. No change."
The Palestinian side attacked the U.S. provocative bias towards Israel. Hatim Abdul Qader, member of Fatah’s Higher Committee in Ramallah said earlier, “Powell’s success lies with the Israeli side. Instead of attacking our legal resistance, the Americans should tell Sharon to withdraw his troops out of our villages, cities and refugee camps.
“Occupation is terrorism, not legal resistance”.
In Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the bombing was “the work of people seeking to disrupt Powell's mission”.
He said President George W. Bush deplored the attack but "will not be deterred" in his drive for peace.
Powell had an initial round of talks with Israeli leaders Friday and was touring Israel's troubled northern border with Lebanon when a young Palestinian women blew herself up near a crowded downtown marketplace in west Jerusalem.
While up north, he condemned the suicide attack and said it "illustrates the dangerous situation that exists."
On his way up to the border, Powell's helicopter flew over the scene of the bombing, the U.S. official said.
Powell refused to visit Jenin refugee camp where the Israeli forces committed atrocities against civilians that are denounced by the whole world.
Powell is thus far still set to meet Arafat on Saturday. Arafat is still besieged by Israel and has been unable to leave his compound for two weeks.
