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Abbas takes office; blast rocks Tel Aviv

RAMALLAH April 30. The reformist Palestinian Prime Minister, Mahmoud Abbas, took office today in a key step toward a U.S.-backed ``road map'' for West Asia peace, the official Palestinian news agency said.

Palestinian authorities admitted only television crews, without their mobile phones, into the packed swearing-in ceremony at the battered headquarters of the Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat, in Ramallah. But a reporter from the official Palestinian news agency WAFA told Reuters that Mr. Abbas was the first Minister to be sworn in today.

The landmark ceremony had already been marred by a new Palestinian suicide bombing in Tel Aviv early today, in which the bomber killed three people. The attack underlined the formidable challenge Mr. Abbas faces to curb militant violence in a 31-month-old Palestinian uprising.

Mr. Abbas is the first-ever Palestinian Prime Minister, a post Mr. Arafat created under international pressure to cede some powers and implement democratic reforms.

His Cabinet includes both critics of Mr. Arafat and loyalists from within his Fatah movement. REUTERS

The United Nations envoy to West Asia, Terje Larsen, told reporters that the "road map" would be presented to Mr. Abbas later on Wednesday evening. Palestinian officials said Israel would also receive the plan the same day, though Israeli officials could not confirm that.

A militia tied to Mr. Abbas' own Fatah movement claimed responsibility for the Tel Aviv bombing, along with the Islamic militant group Hamas. A spokesman for the Fatah-linked militia, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, said the attack was a message to Mr. Abbas that "nobody can disarm the resistance movements without a political solution".

Arriving at the West Bank headquarters of Mr, Arafat, ahead of his swearing-in on Wednesday, Mr. Abbas said, "We condemn this attack strongly."

In his inaugural speech to the Palestinian Parliament on Tuesday, Mr. Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, hinted at a future crackdown on militias, saying that "the unauthorised possession of weapons ... is a major concern that will be relentlessly addressed."

The bomber, who the Al Aqsa spokesman said came from the West Bank town of Tulkarem, struck on Tel Aviv's seaside promenade in the early hours on Wednesday, blowing himself up outside a pub and restaurant popular with foreigners and just a few metres from the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy. — Reuters/AP

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