Palestinian President Yasser Arafat faced intense international pressure to catch those responsible for blowing up an American diplomatic convoy in the Gaza Strip this morning.
The bombing, which left three American security men dead, led to calls from the EU and the US for Mr Arafat to take decisive action. The US said it would pursue the bombers until they were caught.
EU foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana telephoned Mr Arafat shortly after the roadside bombing and told him "condemnations and excuses will not do", Mr Solana's spokeswoman Ms Cristina Gallach said.
"The Palestinian Authority has to identify, apprehend and punish those responsible for the crime today," she quoted him as saying. The EU is the main foreign aid donor to the Palestinians and a partner with the United States in peace efforts.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he had asked Mr Arafat to act against militants after the attack.
The US ambassador to Israel also called on Mr Arafat's Palestinian Authority to capture the bombers
Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer also told reporters that Washington would continue to work for an end to Palestinian-Israeli violence despite the bombing, an unprecedented attack on US officials in the three-year conflict. Islamic Jihad, Hamas and the Popular Front for theLiberation of Palestinian (PFLP) denied involvement.
US State Department spokeswoman Ms Brooke Summers said: "Our sympathies go out to these brave men and their families. ... The United States will pursue the perpetrators until they are caught and brought to justice."
Ms Summers said an explosive device planted in advance destroyed the second vehicle in a three-vehicle convoy taking US officials to interview Palestinian candidates for Fulbright scholarships in the United States. Another security person was seriously injured in the explosion, she added.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie quickly denounced the attack and vowed to investigate.
"We strongly condemn this incident regardless of who is behind it and we express deep regret over the killing and injury," Mr Qurie told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Shortly after the blast, Israeli tanks swept onto the scene and opened fire with machine guns in the vicinity, witnesses said.
Palestinian security sources said the Israeli army had informed them that troops would arrive with US diplomatic officials to carry out an investigation.
- The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, condemned the bomb attack in the Gaza Strip. He conveyed his condolences to the families of the four people killed in the blast and expressed his hopes for the speedy recovery of those injured.
The Minister said that an attack on personnel engaged in monitoring compliance with the roadmap for peace was "a direct assault on international involvement in the peace process and on the peace process itself."