Jerusalem hit by bomb blasts
A second car bomb exploded just hours after last
night's blast
A series of explosions have rocked central Jerusalem during morning rush-hour and following an overnight car bomb attack.
Last night's bomb exploded outside the central Jerusalem police station in an area where there are many bars and restaurants.
Ther are no immediate reports of any serious injuries from the bombings.
Israeli radio reports the discovery of six devices and witnesses speak of four detonations.
A BBC correspondent in Jerusalem, Paul Wood, says the explosions are beginning to look like a concerted campaign and adds to a sense of national emergency which has been fed a daily diet of violence and disaster in the past week.
New talks
A hard line group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, claimed responsibility for the overnight attack. Similar attacks in the past have been carried out by other islamic extremist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
It underlines the difficulty facing new US Middle East envoy-designate William Burns, who is to meet Palestinian and Israeli leaders on Sunday.
Mr Burns is to hold talks with Yasser Arafat in Ramallah in the morning and Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem in the afternoon.
According to Israeli spokesman Raanan Gissin, Mr Burns will press for a ceasefire as part of the recommendations in the US-sponsored Mitchell report.
It also urges a a freeze on Jewish settlement building.
Search for bombers
Police have put up roadblocks and deployed helicopters to search for the overnight bombers, who - police believe - drove off in a second car after parking the one with the bomb.
Two men were reportedly seen parking the car and leaving the scene shortly before the explosion.
"We were lucky," said Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert. "Think what would have happened if this explosion succeeded."
Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said 25 people had been detained, but that police were not sure the people were involved in the explosion.
Near police station
The explosion, which could be heard across the city, occurred in a parking lot not far from central Jerusalem's main police station.
The parking lot is across from a courthouse where a nine people were appearing before a judge in connection with the collapse of a building that killed at least 23 people on Thursday night.
The hearing continued, and the judge ordered two of the people held until 29 May and the others until 31 May while the investigation continues.
The site is also not far from predominantly Arab east Jerusalem.
Our correspondent says it would not have been difficult for Palestinians to cross from east to west Jerusalem to plant the bomb, despite heavy security throughout Israel.
She said the mood among people at the scene was one of shock and anger.
It is the third apparent militant attack against
Israeli targets in 48 hours. On Friday,
explosions in Hadera and the Gaza Strip killed
three apparent suicide bombers and injured
more than 60 Israelis.
-- Anonymous, May 27, 2001