Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday that peace talks with the Palestinians would be frozen if they do not crack down on armed groups following Friday's suicide bombing that killed four people in Tel Aviv nightclub.
Speaking before the weekly cabinet meeting, Sharon said: "The terrorist attack was perpetrated by members of Islamic Jihad. The orders came from Islamic Jihad elements in Syria; even though we know this for a certainty, the fact is not enough to absolve the Palestinian Authority (PA) of its responsibility for the departure of the terrorist and of its obligation to act against his partners in the crime. The immediate test for the PA will be in vigorous action against Islamic Jihad members."
"While the State of Israel is interested in advancing towards a settlement with the Palestinians, there will be no diplomatic progress, [there will be] no progress, until the Palestinians take strong action to eliminate the terrorist organizations and their infrastructures in the PA areas."
Meanwhile, Khalid Al-Batesh, one of the Islamic Jihad Movement's prominent leaders in the Gaza Strip, has confirmed that his Movement was responsible for the Tel Aviv bombing. Al-Batesh said that the attack comes in retaliation to the Israeli incessant breaches of the calming down that "was supposed to end on 22nd February", and pledged that the Movement's military wing, Al-Quds Brigades, would mount more raids if the Israeli "outrageous aggression" on the Palestinian people continued.
In the same context, Al-Quds Brigades took the full credit for the attack mounted by Abdullah Badran, 21, on a Tel Aviv nightclub.
The Brigades' communiquי said that Badran blasted himself amidst the crowds of Israelis queuing to enter the disco, and reasserted that the military wing was still committed to the calming down with Israel.
The attack was launched in response to the Israeli continuous violations of the calming down currently observed by the Palestinian resistance groups, according to the statement.
In the meantime, PA security officers along with their Israeli counterparts Saturday launched thorough investigations into the Tel Aviv blast. According to the probe’s initial results, the 21-year-old Abdullah Badran, who was the one who launched the raid on the Tel Aviv pub, had sneak into the Israeli crowd despite the Israeli rigorous security measures then detonated the explosive device he was carrying.
A PA security source reported that the two Palestinian youths, who were nabbed at the hands of the PA security men on suspicion of being involved in the attack, were residing in the vicinity of Tulkarem city neighboring Deir Al-Ghusun village, Badran's birthplace.
