JERUSALEM, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian would-be suicide bomber in the northern West Bank on Friday, thwarting an attack that would likely have had disastrous results, a senior police officer told Xinhua.
The Palestinian man approached a security checkpoint manned by Border Police troops at Tapuah Junction, south of Nablus, arousing suspicion due to the heavy coat he was wearing on a hot day and his "strange" acting, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
Police officers aimed their rifles at the man and ordered him to halt, while the man said he was carrying a bomb.
He then removed his coat, revealing about a dozen iron pipes connected to electrical wires wrapped around his waist, only one of which was later found having explosive material.
Border police sappers were called to the scene and disarmed the bomb, Rosenfeld said.
A military spokeswoman identified the bomber, in his 20s, as a resident of a refugee camp near the Palestinian city of Nablus, saying that he was taken into custody and handed over to the Shin Bet intelligence agency for questioning.
It was not immediately clear whether the suspect was affiliated with a militant group and what target he intended to attack.
Israeli daily Ha'aretz quoted an army officer as saying that details of the man's intentions were scant. "It's not clear that the target was the Tapuah Junction. He may have been waiting for someone to pick him up."
Security in the area was heightened and police were searching for additional suspects who drove the bomber to the junction and then fled, Rosenfeld added.
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