A Palestinian killed his Israeli employer, early Wednesday in a coffee factory in the Atarot industrial area, located north of Jerusalem and on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Ramallah, witnesses said.
An armed faction associated with Fatah – The Return Brigades - claimed responsibility for this attack.
Reports said the Palestinian, who had worked at the factory for about three years, walked into the employer's office and shot him twice in the head at close range, then fled the scene.
The Israeli army, police and Shin Bet personnel launched a manhunt for the attacker.
Last Friday, an Israeli was killed near this industrial zone.
Earlier, a Palestinian was shot dead and two others wounded by Israeli forces in an exchange of fire at the Balata refugee camp near Nablus, Palestinian security sources said.
Imad al-Mograbi, 25, was killed in the shootout early Wednesday between armed Palestinian groups and Israeli troops, AFP reported.
Israeli tanks have been stationed at positions near the camp, located in the suburbs of Nablus in the northern West Bank, for several days.
Also in the West Bank, a bomb exploded as an Israeli bus passed by on a road linking Jerusalem with the West Bank Jewish settlement of Beitar Ilit, but there were no casualties, Israeli and Palestinian sources said. This bombing attack was claimed by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.
Security Talks
Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian security officials held six hours of high-level talks at a meeting attended by US representatives.
Israeli military radio reported that the two sides decided to meet again soon, despite the wide differences of opinion expressed in the talks.
Israel was represented by General Security Service (Shin Bet) chief Avi Dichter and Army Head of Plans and Policy Directorate, Major General Giora Eiland. PA Preventive Security Chief for the West Bank, Jibril Rajoub and his counterpart for the Gaza Strip, Mohammad Dahlan represented the Palestinian side.
Before the meeting, top Palestinian officials said they would demand Israel to lift its military blockade of Palestinian self-rule areas in accordance with a specific schedule. Dahlan said that the Palestinians would demand that Israel cease its assassination policy and military strikes on PA security posts, Israel Radio reported.
The Israeli delegation demanded that the Palestinians put an end to armed attacks.
The Palestinians had suspended security talks on Sunday after Israel refused to lift travel ban of Yasser Arafat. However, Arafat agreed to the resumption of talks following a meeting with visiting EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
