Guards Foil Suicide Bomber in Tel Aviv

U.S. Embassy security guards Friday overpowered a would-be suicide bomber who had tried to enter a crowded cafe on the nearby Tel Aviv beachfront, Israeli police said.

Shlomit Herzberg, chief spokeswoman for police in Tel Aviv, said a cafe security guard stopped the man as he tried to enter the Hatayelet cafe on the promenade about 20 yards from the embassy.

“When he found the explosive vest, the man ran away and the guard chased him while calling for help from security personnel of the American Embassy,” she said.

Embassy guards overpowered the man and called police. She said a bomb squad removed the vest and no injuries were reported.

The suspect, whose identity was not immediately available, was detained.

Cafe guard Mikhail Sarkisov, a 30-year-old former soldier and policeman who had emigrated from Turkmenistan 13 months ago, said about 35 people were in the cafe when the man walked up. As he ran after the would-be bomber, he said embassy guards--who include both Israelis and Americans--joined the chase and caught the man just past the embassy.

The incident occurred a day after a suicide bomber killed a 71-year-old woman and injured several other people at a bus stop near Tel Aviv.

Also on Friday, more than 10,000 supporters of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement rallied in the heart of Gaza City, many firing automatic weapons into the air in a show of strength directed at a rival group, the militant Islamic organization Hamas.

An even larger crowd of police officers and militiamen marched Thursday in the funeral procession for Col. Rajeh abu Lehiya, who was killed Monday by a Hamas militiaman.

Hamas leaders distanced themselves from Abu Lehiya’s killing, saying it was a case of personal vengeance. But they have said it might have been justified under Islamic law, and they have not helped in turning over the killer.