A carefully planned remote-controlled bomb attack that takes the life of three American citizens

A carefully planned, remote-controlled bomb attack that takes the life of three American citizens is unlikely to increase Mr Bush’s appetite to get involved.Indeed, within hours of the attack, the State Department urged all Americans to leave Gaza immediately. The US diplomats being protected by the security men who died were engaged in neutral business – interviewing Palestinian applicants for Fulbright scholarships.Thus far there has been a tacit agreement that Palestinians, and Israelis, would not targetEuropeans or other nationals not directly involved in the fighting. It is the first time in recent memory that Americans have been targeted. Yesterday’s fatal bomb attack in Gaza is a further setback to floundering efforts to restart the Middle East peace process. The attack can only make the Bush administration, which has refused to deal with Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority, even more sceptical of his ability and desire to get a grip on terrorism.
Americanreaction, set out by Colin Powell, the Secretary of State, in a telephone call to Ahmed Qureia, the new Palestinian Prime Minister, will be to demand a serious crackdown on terrorism by the Palestinian authorities.Washington has long insisted that such steps are the essential basic precondition for resuming negotiations.Most ominously, the killings break new ground in decades of Middle East violence.

It carries 70,000 commuters per day between Staten Island and lower Manhattan.. “They had no control to stop the boat.”The ferry is among the city’s most beloved institutions, providing free rides and offering a spectacular view of New York Harbor. The National Transportation Safety Board convened an accident investigation team to lead the onsite inquiry. The team was to examine weather, among other factors.Winds were gusting up to 40 mph when the accident occurred.”The ferry was coming too fast,” said witness William Gonzalez, who lives in a nearby apartment complex. I said, ‘Oh, my God, he’s going to crash,’” Mr Robinson said.The cause of the crash officially remained unknown.

Some of the injured were pulled from the rubble by rescue workers; one of the dead was found in the water off Staten Island.Evan Robinson, a musician waiting for a ferry on Staten Island, said he watched as the craft suddenly veered crazily. Witnesses said some passengers jumped into the wind-swept water and others ran as the pier chewed up the side of the boat.The victims were seated in the window seats on the front right side of the Andrew J Barberi ferry. Six others walked away injured and went to hospitals later.The boat hit a maintenance pier, hundreds of feet from the slips where the ferries normally dock to pick up and drop off passengers. The ferry was then backed up and moved over to one of the passenger slips, where rescue crews began their work, according to several New York media outlets.Mr Corchado said he tried to help as many people as possible get out. The crew members referred investigators to their union lawyers.The 300-foot craft was carrying an estimated 1,500 people, 36 of whom were treated at the scene or were immediately taken to hospitals. He was being represented by an attorney, said police, who obtained a sample of his blood for testing.The ferry’s crew was to be interviewed and tested for drugs and alcohol, said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.