Bush says 'two-bit terrorists' won't deter him from trip

EL PASO, Texas -- President Bush said Thursday "two-bit terrorists" who exploded a bomb near the U.S. Embassy in Peru would not stop him from going there as part of a Latin American trip.

Bush said "we might have an idea" who set off the bomb. "They've been around before," he said. He spoke in the Oval Office minutes before leaving the White House for a flight to Mexico, the first leg of a four-day trip that also will take him to Lima, Peru, and El Salvador to promote democracy and reform.

The President did not identify the group who might have set off the bomb about four blocks from the Embassy in the Peruvian capital.

But he nodded when a reporter asked if the terrorist group Shining Path, thought to be in eclipse, was on the upsurge.

At least nine people were killed and dozens injured in the blast near an open shopping mall.

"You bet I am going," Bush said, indicating he wasn't worried about security for the trip.

"You know, two-bit terrorists aren't going to prevent me from doing what we need to do, and that is to promote our friendship in the hemisphere," he said.