By JASON KEYSER : Associated Press Writer Jan 6, 2003 : 7:03 am ET

TEL AVIV, Israel -- In response to a twin suicide bombings that killed 22 people, Israel decided Monday to close three Palestinian universities, intensify raids against suspected militants and bar Palestinian officials from holding key meetings in the West Bank and abroad.

A few hours after the announcement, Bir Zeit University near Ramallah -- considered the most prestigious Palestinian university -- received orders from the military to immediately evacuate the premises of all staff and students, said university head Hanna Nasser. No Israeli confirmation was available.

The blasts went off seconds apart Sunday evening in a crowded, old part of Tel Aviv, killing 22 bystanders and wounding more than 100 in the deadliest Palestinian attack in nearly a year. Several of the dead and many of the wounded were foreign workers.

A splinter group of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility. The bombers were identified as two young men from the West Bank city of Nablus.

In Washington, President Bush called the attack "a despicable act of murder" and said Secretary of State Colin Powell had called Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to express America's condolences.

The blasts came just three weeks before Israel's Jan. 28 general election and ended a period of six weeks without bombings, one of the longest of relative calm in the past 27 months of fighting. The deadliest bombing was in March, on the eve of the Jewish Passover holiday, when a blast in a hotel killed 29 people.

In a first response to Sunday's attacks, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at metal workshops in the Gaza Strip. more

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2003

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