wounding at least 22 people, as news emerged that al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, plans new attacks against the United States.
The bombing was also the first since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was incapacitated by a stroke on January 4 and could put pressure on interim leader Ehud Olmert for harsh reprisals as Palestinians prepare for parliamentary elections next week, analysts said.
The Islamic Jihad militant group claimed responsibility in a phone call to The Associated Press (AP). "This happened in two seconds, he entered the shop, took two steps, and blew himself up," Ari Sharon, owner of the targeted restaurant, the Mayor’s Shwarma, told AP.
AUDIO TAPE
It came as Arabic Television station al-Jazeera aired an audio tape it claimed was by the al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden. In it the voice warned that new attacks on the US are being planned, but offered a "long-term truce" to the Americans.
If confirmed, it would be the first time Bin Laden has been heard from since December 2004. Last month, al-Jazeera aired a videotape it said dated back to September showing al-Qaeda’s deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
He claimed that despite reports about ill health or possible injury, Bin Laden was alive.
Meanwhile in Iraq, where al-Qaeda has been active as well, at least 15 people were killed and 46 wounded Thursday, January 19, when a car bomb and a suicide bomber almost simultaneously struck a busy commercial area in central Baghdad, the Cable News Network (CNN) quoted an official with Baghdad emergency police as saying.
CAR BOMB
The car bomb, which targeted an Iraqi police patrol, exploded first on Sadoon Street and was followed almost immediately by an explosion in a crowded coffee shop when a suicide bomber blew himself up, the unidentified official said.
The violence came amid growing concern about the plight of the kidnapped American freelance journalist Jill Carroll of the Christian Science Monitor newspaper.
Al Jazeera on Thursday, January 19, aired new images showing Caroll surrounded by armed gunmen that were part of a video tape the channel had broadcast earlier this week. The network aid on Tuesday, January 17, that Carroll’s kidnappers had threatened to kill her within 72 hours unless all Iraqi women detainees were freed.
On Thursday, January 19, Iraq’s Justice Ministry said American forces would release six Iraqi women prisoners, but denied that the move was related to the kidnappers’ demands.
The violence and kidnappings have also added to fears among Iraq’s Christian minority, which has also been the target of attacks by Islamic militants. Four Christian peace activists, including two Canadians, one American and one Briton of the organization Christian Peacemaker Teams, also remained in hands of militants Thursday, January 19. (With reports from Israel and Iraq).
