A suspected Palestinian militant tried to ram an explosives-laden car into a crowded Tel Aviv nightclub on Friday but was killed when an Israeli security guard opened fire.
"I fired one bullet at him. He fell out of the car and blew up," the guard, Eli Federman, told reporters. "After the blast, I shot him twice in the head...and then moved closer and emptied the rest of the clip into his head."
The apparent suicide attack was the latest in a fresh cycle of tit-for-tat violence that has overshadowed Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's pledge to overhaul his beleaguered Palestinian Authority and hold elections by early next year.
Three passersby were wounded by the blast in an area known for its night haunts in the south of Israel's largest city. Tel Aviv police chief Yosef Sedbon said the attacker picked a dance club packed with mostly teenaged revelers at 1:30 a.m. on Friday, when the Israeli weekend kicks in.
"When he saw the people in front, he took his car and tried to run it into the club," Sedbon said.
Witnesses said there was panic as the car, which stopped a few meters from the club's entrance, was enveloped in flames.
(China Daily May 26, 2002)
