DATE=04/01/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL/BLAST (S)

NUMBER=2-288228

BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A car bomb on the edge of East Jerusalem has killed the suspected bomber and injured several others. Police are checking whether the man who died was a suicide bomber, or was only transporting explosives. The attack in Jerusalem is the sixth in as many days, and comes as Israel expands its military operations in the West Bank. Correspondent Laurie Kassman has the latest details from our Jerusalem bureau.

TEXT: An Israeli policeman was seriously injured when he stopped the vehicle and opened the door to inspect it. The Palestinian man inside the car was killed in the explosion.

The explosion occurred on the corner of a highway that divides East and West Jerusalem, a few hundred meters from Jerusalem's historic Old City. There were few pedestrians in the area at the time.

In recent months, security checkpoints have been increased along the road, which also borders an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. A police spokesman says the security check may have prevented another deadly explosion in the heart of the city.

A suicide bombing on one of the busiest shopping streets in the heart of the city 10 days ago killed two and injured more than 20 others.

The car explosion on Monday is the sixth deadly blast since last Wednesday, when a suicide bomber killed 22 people celebrating the start of Passover Holiday.

/// OPT THE REST /// Since then, suicide bombers have attacked Israelis in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Efrat, a Jewish settlement on the West Bank, and a southern Jerusalem neighborhood. More than 40 people have been killed in the separate incidents. (Signed)

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