ARABS-ISRAEL - May 7 - Suicide Bomber Kills 16 As Sharon Meets Bush.

Sharon late at night cuts short his visit to Washington after a suicide bomber killed 16 people and wounded at least 30 at Rishon Letzion, a coastal town near Tel Aviv. (The suicide attack is the first to strike Israel since a young woman suicide bomber killed six people on April 12 in central Jerusalem. The PA was quick to condemn the bombing, saying it would cause "great harm to our cause". Hamas claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing). Speaking at a hastily convened press conference, Sharon says he will return to Israel with his heart "heavy with grief... and heavy with rage". He calls the PA a "terrorist and corrupt entity" and says Israel will "pre-empt and kill first" those who plan attacks within its borders. (Sharon's advisers informed him of the explosion during his meeting with US Pres. Bush. The meeting was their first since the conclusion of Israel's April offensive in the West Bank, aimed at wiping out what it regards as a Palestinian terrorist infrastructure. Sharon took fresh demands to Washington for a restructuring of the PA that would limit Arafat's influence. As Sharon was discussing his ideas with Bush, King Abdullah was conveying his own ideas on ending the Middle East conflict in talks with US State Secretary Powell, Defence Secretary Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney). Bush called the Rishon Letzion attack "wanton taking of innocent life". Bush said he was sending CIA Director George Tenet to the region to work on building a new Palestinian security force. The two leaders called for reforms in the PA. Bush urged it to adopt a constitution and Sharon said reforms must precede discussion of a Palestinian state. A Sharon spokesman said: "It is clear that the Palestinian Authority has not given up its terror actions and has not given up its murderous path". (Analysts say the suicide bombing hampered the progress towards a peace settlement between Israel and the PA. US administration officials said Bush planned to take a tough stance when he met Sharon, who rejected Arafat as a reliable partner in eventual negotiations. Bush was to follow his meeting with Sharon with talks on May 8 with Jordanian King Abdullah. The talks in Washington were not expected to produce a final agreement on its shape and goals, US officials said. But a major aid programme for the PA might be announced. Bush was to tell Sharon there was little alternative to dealing with Arafat for now. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: "The president understands that Yasser Arafat is seen by the Palestinian people as their leader". Bush also planned to urge Sharon to accept a specific, phased timetable for working towards the creation of a Palestinian state. And Fleischer confirmed that Bush was to ask Sharon to curb the construction of Israeli settlements. The intense diplomatic criss-crossing in Washington was not without friction. At the weekend, Israeli officials angered Arab officials by presenting journalists with their 85-page document alleging ties between Arafat and terrorist acts, and between Saudi Arabia and funding to "families of terrorists who perpetrated murderous attacks in Israeli cities". Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, in response, issued a statement calling the accusations "shameful and counterproductive" and saying they were "a smokescreen" to distract attention from efforts to advance peace. And a senior Jordanian aide travelling with King Abdullah expressed impatience with the open-ended process Sharon advocates. Without a commitment soon to an "end game", he said, Jordan would not "be able to help Arafat stop the radical organisations" in the Palestinian movement. US officials expressed quiet frustration at the exchange over the Israeli document, saying it was not helpful. Sharon adviser Danny Ayalon told CNN that to ask Israel to negotiate with Arafat was like asking the US to negotiate with Osama Bin Laden).