Fatah denies link with Tel Aviv bombing attacks

    GAZA, Jan. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The Palestinian mainstream Fatah movement chaired by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat denied on Monday any link with the deadly twin suicide bombing attack in Tel Aviv on Sunday that killed 23 people.

¡¡¡¡A Fatah statement published by the Palestinian news agency WAFA said after checking the Fatah membership lists, it has been certainly confirmed that the two suicide bombers who carried out the attack in Tel Aviv "are not at all registered members in the lists."

¡¡¡¡Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah movement, has claimed responsibility for the attack and recognized the two bombers as Buraq Khalafa and Samer Al Noori from the West Bank townof Nablus.

¡¡¡¡The Fatah statement said those "who are behind the attack aim tobring failure to the Palestinian-Palestinian dialogue due to begin on Jan. 15 in Cairo under Egyptian sponsorship."

¡¡¡¡"The attack is aimed at showing the Palestinians as inhuman by killing innocent civilians, which totally contradicts with our religious and historical principles," said the statement.

¡¡¡¡Warning against those who are using the name of the Fatah, the statement stressed that the Fatah movement condemns the suicide bombing attack and supports the official statement of the Palestinian National Authority. Enditem

Tel Aviv attack death toll rises to 23, including foreign workers

¡¡¡¡JERUSALEM, Jan. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The death toll from Sunday night's twin suicide attacks at Tel Aviv's old central bus station has risen to 23, including 15 yet to be identified, Israel Radio reported Monday morning.

¡¡¡¡Among the unidentified, 11 were believed to be Israelis and fourforeign workers. The radio said at least 68 wounded remain hospitalized, two being in critical condition.

¡¡¡¡Both the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) group and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the armed wing of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's mainstream Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing attacks.

¡¡¡¡The incident was the third in less than a year in which Palestinian militants targeted the crowded neighborhood of mostly foreign workers and poor people.

¡¡¡¡The attacks were also the first inside Israel in more than a month, and the worst inside the Green Line (the control line beforethe 1967 Middle East War) since the Passover suicide bombing at thePark Hotel last March in Netanya, which killed 29 and prompted the Israeli army's Operation Defensive Shield to reoccupy most of the West Bank.

¡¡¡¡As for those illegal foreign workers, who were wounded in the attacks but fear to be deported, the Israeli Interior Ministry issued a statement saying nobody seeking medical aid would become subject to expulsion or arrest.

¡¡¡¡Interior Minister Eli Yishai promised temporary visas for the wounded and their families who are not legally staying in Israel, according to local reports.

¡¡¡¡Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said the government would expedite the arrival of relatives of the workers, even those without proper papers. Enditem