Middle East / Secretary-General urges respect for rules of international law. Calls for restraint by The United Nations / Reuters 10:51am 5th Oct, 2003   5 October – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today strongly deplored the Israeli air strike on Syrian territory, warning that it could inflame violence in the troubled region.    A spokesman for Mr. Annan said he is “especially concerned that this further escalation of an already tense and difficult situation has the potential to broaden the scope of current conflicts in the Middle East, further threatening regional peace and security.”    The Secretary-General urged all concerned to respect the rules of international law and to exercise restraint, according to the spokesman. Meanwhile, members of the Security Council decided to hold closed-door talks this afternoon in New York on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.    4 October , 2003    United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today strongly condemned the suicide bombing which killed at least 18 people in Haifa, Israel.    Calling the attack “horrific” in a statement released by his spokesman, Mr. Annan reiterated his “utter repugnance at all acts of terror, from whatever quarter.”    The statement also called on the Palestinian Authority to do everything in its power to halt these vicious attacks, which “only harm the Palestinian cause.”    All parties were urged to show utmost restraint during “this extremely dangerous and difficult period,” the spokesman said. Mr. Annan also conveyed his prayers for the families of the victims.    October 5, 2003. "Israel launches attacks on Gaza" Reuters News Release.    A Palestinian woman suicide bomber blew herself up in a restaurant in Israel's northern city of Haifa, killing 19 people including three children and sparking new calls in Israel to exile Yasser Arafat.    Israel hit back swiftly for yesterday's bombing, launching helicopter gunship missile strikes in the Gaza Strip early today. There was no word of any casualties in the strikes on a militant's home in Gaza City and the el-Bureij refugee camp.    The Islamic Jihad group said it was behind the suicide bombing at the Maxim restaurant, frequented by both Jews and Arabs, just before the solemn Jewish Yom Kippur fast day.    The suicide bombing provoked an international outcry and some Israeli government ministers openly demanded Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's removal. Palestinian leaders urged the world to prevent any push to oust the Palestinian leader.    The suicide attack dealt a new blow to a stalled US-backed peace "road map". It was the first since twin attacks killed 15 people on September 9 and the first since Israel's cabinet decided in principle on September 11 to "remove" Arafat.    "Suddenly we heard a tremendous explosion. We saw smoke pour out of the restaurant and the windows shattered," said witness Navon Hai. "There wasn't much we could do. Families were dead around the tables, there were children without limbs."    The bomber's severed head with a long mane of dark hair lay on the floor in the centre of the restaurant, surrounded by other body parts and bloody clothes. A black and white chequered baby carriage stood amid the wreckage.    Police said the dead included three children and a security guard, and that about 50 people were wounded. A number of Israeli Arabs were also thought to be among the dead. Islamic Jihad named the bomber as Hanadi Tayseer Jaradat, 29, from the West Bank city of Jenin.    It said she was avenging the killing of her brother and cousin, Islamic Jihad members, by Israel in a three-year-old Palestinian uprising for statehood. Arafat condemned the attack and said it would give Israel a pretext to obstruct international peace efforts. Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qurie, whose government is obliged to rein in militants under the road map, urged militants to "fully halt these actions that target civilians".    Israel said that was "too little and too late". It blamed Arafat for the violence. "Arafat has become a living obstacle to peace. It is imperative that we get rid of him," Israeli Science Minister Eliezer Sandberg told Reuters.    The Palestine Liberation Organisation's executive committee appealed to the world not to permit an Israeli assault to prise Arafat out of his West Bank headquarters, urging it to prevent any "crimes...against President Arafat personally". About 30 Arafat supporters including some foreigners, went to his compound in the city of Ramallah to act as "human shields", witnesses said.    US President George W Bush said the suicide bombing was despicable. He urged Palestinians to "fight terror, which remains the foremost obstacle to achieving the vision of two states living side by side in peace and security".    Britain, France and Germany also condemned the bombing. The United Nations said such attacks harmed the Palestinian cause.    - Reuters
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