Jordanian shoots into crowd near Red Sea resort

EILAT, Israel -- A Jordanian truck driver fired on a crowd of tourists crossing into Israel, killing one and wounding four, in an attack near this Red Sea resort that until now has been untouched by three years of Middle East violence. The gunman was killed by Israeli security personnel.

The attack came even as Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia held talks with leaders of militant groups in an effort to restart the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan.

Jordanian officials condemned the shooting and said the gunman, who came from a predominantly Palestinian town, was not linked to any organized armed group.

But Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz decried what he called "part of the recent long and painful string of terror attacks in which world terror groups were involved."

Arieh Zaks, manager of the Rabin border crossing, said the driver was known to officials. He drove a cattle truck and entered Israel about once a month with the animals, Zaks told Israel TV.

Israel Radio said the man, who had wrapped his gun in a blanket, raised suspicion when he got out of the truck. Israeli guards shot him six times as he was still on the Jordanian side of the border.

"We heard the shooting, at first we lay down on the floor, then we tried to evacuate the tourists," said a border crossing worker who refused to give her name. "We have been trained for something like this, but I never imagined it could really happen."

Israeli officials said five Ecuadorean Christian pilgrims were wounded. One of them, a 33-year-old woman, died from a head wound nine hours later at Soroka hospital in Beersheba, hospital spokesman Irit Didi said. The name of the slain tourist was not released.

The five were part of a group of 39 Ecuadorean pilgrims touring Middle East holy sights, said Yossi Zeldish, their travel agent. The pilgrims were returning from Jordan and were to cross from Eilat into Egypt today to visit a monastery in the Sinai desert, Zeldish said.

Israel's Tourism Ministry sent Spanish-speaking volunteers and psychologists to assist the Ecuadoreans. The ministry said Israel and Jordan agreed to intensify security at the border and increase joint patrols. The governor of the neighboring Jordanian port of Aqaba said steps would be taken to keep weapons out of the area.

Jordanian minister of state Asma Khader condemned the attack.

She said the gunman was a resident of Zarqa, 16 miles northeast of the Jordanian capital, Amman, and Jordanian troops had searched his home, but no arrests were made.

"Preliminary information indicates that it was an individual and not an organizational act," Khader told The Associated Press.

The attack shattered the calm in Eilat, a sunny resort popular with Israelis trying to escape the pressure of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The city of 42,000 -- with attractions including coral reefs, deep-sea diving, dolphin petting, casino boats and discotheques -- also attracts tens of thousands of tourists year-round, especially from Europe.

"Right now we have lots of tourists, from France and from England," said Aharon Dekel, chairman of the Eilat Hotel Association. He called the attack "an abnormal, one-time" event but said he fears it could hurt tourism.

Jordan and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1994, and only a few incidents of cross-border violence have occurred since then. In the deadliest, a Jordanian soldier killed seven Israeli schoolgirls in 1997 near the northern Israeli town of Beit Shean.

The most recent was in March 2002, when Israeli soldiers killed four armed infiltrators. Jordanian forces killed two others. In December 2001, an Israeli soldier and two gunmen were killed in cross-border gunfire.

Israel's tourism industry, its top foreign currency earner, had already been hard hit by Palestinian-Israeli violence. Up to now, however, Eilat has not been seriously affected.

Wednesday's attack came as Egyptian mediators and the Palestinian prime minister traveled to the Gaza Strip to try to persuade militant groups to halt attacks on Israel.

Egyptian intelligence officials and Prime Minister Qureia held separate talks with leaders of the militant groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Next week, militant group leaders are to meet with Egyptian mediators.

Qureia has said his first priority is to get the militants to agree to a truce, and then bring Israel into the accord. "We are on our way to a Palestinian understanding on what is demanded from us, and then we will have a discussion with the Israelis," he said.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they were willing to consider a truce if Israel reciprocates. Abu Mujahed, a senior leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group loosely affiliated with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, also said most of the group's leaders are willing to accept a cease-fire.

After a Hamas delegation met the Egyptian mediators, Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar said the factions had been invited to Cairo for talks on Dec. 2. He said the unilateral truce of the summer would not be restored. Qureia has said that Israel would have to be a party this time.

In New York, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution adopting the "road map" plan, though Israel objected. A senior Israeli official on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plane home from a trip to Italy said the original resolution had been softened. He said a government statement would be issued today.

Until now, Israel has refused to consider a truce until Palestinian security forces begin dismantling armed groups -- a requirement of the "road map" peace plan. Palestinian leaders have refused to use force against militants.

Israel has also ignored key obligations under the road map, such as freezing construction in Jewish settlements.

In recent days, Israeli officials have indicated they are willing to give a truce a chance for a limited period, without insisting on a crackdown on militants.