PALESTINIAN POLICE STAND GUARD FOLLOWING SUICIDE BOMBING AT UMM EL-FAM, 2002-09-18 (photo)

A Palestinian police woman stands guard by the site where a Palestinian blew himself up after police challenged him at a bus stop in northern Israel during evening rush hour on September 18, 2002. One policeman was killed and two people were wounded. The bombing, the first suicide attack in six weeks, came in a new burst of violence a day after Israel turned down a Palestinian offer to halt attacks on civilians in Israel as the first stage of a gradual truce. The suicide bombing assailant detonated the explosives as he approached a police van that had pulled up at the bus stop to check him, officials said. The officers had acted on a tip that a suspicious-looking man with a bag was at a bus stop, security sources said. The police said the assailant's original plan apparently was to blow himself up on the bus. REUTERS/Havakuk Levison HL/CMC