Bulldozer in Jerusalem rampage before Obama visit

By Rebecca Harrison

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Palestinian rammed a bulldozer into vehicles on a Jerusalem street on Tuesday before a visit by U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who condemned the attack and pledged to push for a peace deal.

The attacker wounded at least 16 people, one seriously, before being shot dead just down the road from the hotel where Obama is due to stay. It was the second such incident in Jewish west Jerusalem in three weeks.

"Today's bulldozer attack is a reminder of what Israelis have courageously lived with on a daily basis for far too long," Obama told a news conference in Amman. "I strongly condemn this attack and will always support Israel in confronting terrorism and pursuing lasting peace and security."

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino called the rampage "an act of terrorism", adding that such attacks "do nothing to further the goals of Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace, a goal the president has been advocating for".

Obama, who was to fly to Israel later in the day, pledged to start working for a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks from his first day in office but said it was unrealistic to expect a U.S. president to "suddenly snap his fingers and bring about peace".

"The Israeli government is unsettled. The Palestinians are divided between Fatah and Hamas. And so it's difficult for either side to make the bold move that would bring about peace," Obama told reporters in Amman.

Obama discussed Israeli-Palestinian matters with King Abdullah of Jordan, who later extended the U.S. presidential candidate the rare courtesy of driving him personally onto the airport grounds in his car.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who faces a corruption probe that could force him from office, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who lost his hold on the Gaza Strip to Hamas Islamists a year ago, aim to reach a statehood agreement before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office in January.

But disputes over Jewish settlement building and violence on both sides have marred the negotiations.

"MURDER"

The attack occurred while Israeli President Shimon Peres hosted Abbas less than a kilometer (half-mile) away, the first visit by a Palestinian president to Israel's official presidential residence.

Israeli police identified the driver as Ghassan Abu Tair, a 22-year-old Palestinian from a village in an area of the occupied West Bank that Israel considers part of Jerusalem and whose residents have freedom of movement in the city and Israel.

A police spokesman said a civilian opened fire at the bulldozer, which kept moving until police shot him dead. Emergency services said at least 16 people were wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Hours after the rampage, two Arab residents of east Jerusalem were attacked and wounded in one of the city's Jewish ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, a police spokesman said, in what appeared to be a revenge-motivated attack. Police were still searching for suspects, he said.