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- WORLD, Page 47World NotesMIDDLE EASTThe Tenth Victim
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- In the blood-spattered politics of the Middle East, the
- softest target for terrorists is often the fragile peace
- process. Last week's brutal gun-and-grenade attack on an
- excursion bus in Egypt killed nine Israeli tourists but also
- claimed a tenth victim: a hoped-for meeting between U.S.,
- Egyptian and Israeli officials to try to get stalled talks
- moving again. The prospect of an imminent get-together was
- dashed by the raid, which also left 20 Israelis injured.
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- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli Prime Minister
- Yitzhak Shamir promised in a phone call that they would not
- allow the attack to threaten Israeli-Egyptian relations. But
- it could strengthen the hand of Israeli hard-liners at this
- week's crucial meeting of the Likud bloc's Central Committee.
- Industry and Trade Minister Ariel Sharon says the bus tragedy
- is proof that the Arabs want blood, not peace. He plans to load
- more amendments onto Shamir's already heavily encumbered plan
- for Palestinian elections.
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- Meanwhile, Egyptian police have made the bus killings their
- top priority. Evidence suggests the culprits were rejectionist
- Palestinian commandos rather than Egyptian fundamentalists, as
- was originally suspected.
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