June 11, 2003	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 10, 1424

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GAZA, June 10: Israel tried to kill the public face of Hamas on Tuesday, wounding Palestinian militant leader Abdel Aziz al Rantissi in a helicopter strike that drew vows of revenge from Hamas and fears for the US-backed peace plan.

Two Palestinians were killed in the attempt to kill Mr Rantissi.

The missile strike set off a deadly cycle of violence of the kind that has doomed previous Middle East peace initiatives.

Hamas militants responded to the attempt on their leader’s life by firing rockets into a town in nearby Israel, injuring one person, and this prompted a second Israeli helicopter attack later in the day that killed another three Palestinians and wounded 32.

US officials said President George Bush was “deeply troubled” by the assassination attempt as it could undermine the new Palestinian leadership’s efforts to subdue militant groups, a key element in the “roadmap” peace initiative.

“The president is concerned that the strike (on Rantissi) will undermine efforts by Palestinian authorities and others to bring an end to terrorist attacks and does not contribute to the security of Israel,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas took a tough line on the Israeli strike, telling Al Arabiya television: “We don’t just condemn these acts, we consider them a crime.”

“We have said that to the American government and we have asked them to intervene immediately to save the peace process and save the roadmap,” Mr Abbas told the Dubai-based TV station.

Confirming he had been the target, Israeli sources accused Rantissi, a 55-year-old senior political aide to Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and a spokesman for the group, of taking on a more prominent military role recently.

Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, told CNN Rantissi was “an enemy of peace...running the whole gauntlet of this operation. He’s responsible for the attack in the Erez junction, and more attacks were in the offing”.—Reuters