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U.N. Secretary General Annan condemns Tel Aviv suicide bombing+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)NEW YORK, April 17_(Kyodo) _ U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan strongly condemned the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in a statement Monday while calling on the new Hamas-led Palestinian Authority to present a "clear public stand against such unjustifiable acts of terrorism." Annan noted in the statement that President Mahmoud Abbas had strongly condemned the act and "regretted" that the new government had not. The secretary general was deeply concerned by the continuing violence against civilians in Israel and the occupied Palestinian authority and called for all parties to fulfill obligations designated by international law, and to "refrain from actions that further escalate the situation and put civilians at grave risk." A suspected Palestinian suicide bomber killed eight people and wounded at least 40 others, six of them seriously, Monday afternoon in Tel Aviv, according to Israeli media. The bomber also died in the blast. It marked the first suicide bombing in Israel since the Hamas took over the leadership of the Palestinian Authority government over two weeks ago, and came just hours before a special session of the Knesset to inaugurate the new parliament elected last month. Two Palestinian militant groups have separately claimed responsibility for the attack. |