Thursday August 9 1:38 PM ET

Bush Demands Arafat 'Act Now' to Prevent Bombings

By Arshad Mohammed

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush demanded on Thursday that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat ``act now'' to arrest those behind a suicide bombing that killed 18 people in Jerusalem and to prevent future attacks.

In a strongly worded statement, Bush also called on Israel and the Palestinians to impose a cease-fire after more than 10 months of violence that has killed more than 650 people and to ''demonstrate foresight and responsibility'' in their actions.

``Palestinian Authority Chairman Arafat must condemn this horrific terrorist attack, act now to arrest and bring to justice those responsible, and take immediate, sustained action to prevent future terrorist attacks,'' Bush said in a statement issued in Crawford, Texas, where he is on vacation.

Israeli officials said a Palestinian suicide bomber killed at least 18 people, including six children, and wounded about 90 when he blew himself up on Thursday in a Jerusalem restaurant packed with families.

It was the deadliest attack since a suicide bomber killed 21 people at a Tel Aviv disco on June 1 and both sides accepted a U.S.-brokered cease-fire that never really took hold.

``I deplore and strongly condemn the terrorist bombing in downtown Jerusalem today,'' Bush said. ``Nothing is gained through cowardly acts such as this. The deliberate murder of innocent civilians is abhorrent to all.''

Bush urged both sides to resume security cooperation under a plan crafted by CIA Director George Tenet and said the United States was willing to assist them, although he placed the onus on the Israelis and the Palestinians to take the first step.

``The United States stands ready to help the parties in this effort, as it has in the past, but the effort must begin with the parties acting to fulfill their obligations under the Tenet work plan,'' Bush said.

The bombing is the latest episode of violence since a Palestinian revolt against Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza erupted in late September after peace talks stalled. Excluding the latest incident, at least 513 Palestinians, 131 Israelis and 13 Israeli Arabs have died in the violence.

Bush's statement did not specifically call for restraint from Israel as its government ponders how to respond, although a U.S. official said that this was the general U.S. policy.

``As we have said in the past, we urge both parties to act with restraint and to restore an atmosphere of calm,'' said the U.S. official, who asked not to be identified.

The official said that Secretary of State Colin Powell had spoken to Arafat earlier on Thursday, but he declined to discuss the content of their talk.

In his statement, Bush repeated the U.S. view that both sides must embrace a peace blueprint produced by a panel led by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell that called for an end to violence, followed by a cooling-off period, confidence-building moves and an eventual resumption of peace talks.

``To get to Mitchell, the parties need to resume effective security cooperation and work together to stop terrorism and violence,'' he said.

``I call upon the leaders of the Palestinian Authority and Israel to demonstrate foresight and responsibility by choosing the path toward a better future for their people,'' he added.

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