GAZA (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat condemned Tuesday's aircraft attacks on U.S. cities as a ''terrible act'' and said he would help track down those responsible if asked by the Americans.Some Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus handed out sweets and fired in the air to celebrate the attacks against Israel's key ally. A few dozen people honked car horns in Arab East Jerusalem but most West Bank towns were quiet. (Read photo caption below)
``We completely condemn this serious operation. ... We were completely shocked,'' Arafat told reporters in Gaza. ``It's an unbelievable disaster. It is touching our hearts. It is very difficult to explain my feelings. God help them. God help them.''
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks in which three hijacked planes hit sites in New York and Washington. A fourth plane crashed near the U.S. city of Pittsburgh.
Some Palestinians are angered over U.S. support for Israel in its fight against Palestinians who are waging a nearly one-year-old uprising against occupation by the Jewish state of lands in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
``We are happy because America supports Israel with weapons to kill Palestinians,'' said a middle-aged Palestinian lawyer, carrying a briefcase and wearing a shirt and tie as he walked past the small, brief demonstration in East Jerusalem.
A few Palestinian boys stoned Israeli buses passing by, shattering a windshield.
RESISTANCE GROUPS DENY ANY CONNECTION
There were no celebrations in other West Bank towns such as Tulkarm, Bethlehem and Jenin and in the Gaza Strip, all areas where Israeli-Palestinian violence has raged.
Fathi Ayed, 37, a Palestinian store owner in Gaza, watched the news on a television in his shop.
``This is a terrible incident. Many people, innocent passengers were killed,'' he said. ``We feel sad because we know what pain is, we know what it is to lose someone we love.''
At least three Resistance groups which have condemned U.S. support for Israel in the Palestinian uprising denied any connection to the attacks in the United States, saying they were limiting their battle to inside Israeli-occupied territories.
Two radical Palestinian groups, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said they were not involved.
The spiritual leader of the Islamist militant group Hamas said it had no connection.
``We in Hamas, our battle is on the Palestinian land. We are not ready to move our battle out of the occupied Palestinian territories,'' said Sheikh Ahmed Yassin of Hamas, which has carried out bombings that have killed scores of Israelis.
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo told Voice of Palestine radio: ``The Palestinian people express their utmost sympathy to the American people and to the innocent victims who perished in these sinful and criminal acts.''
Palestinian political factions said the attack contravenes ''all human principles and values regardless of the existing differences with the American administration.''
Israel and the Palestinians have been locked in fighting since last September after peace talks stalled.
PHOTO CAPTION:
A Palestinian Resistance man fires his rifle as children dance around him at Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp near the port city Sidon in south Lebanon September 11, 2001. Palestinians in Lebanon greeted the news of the devastating attack on American targets on Tuesday with jubilant gunfire, dancing and cheering, saying Israel's chief backer deserved such a punishment. REUTERS/ Ali Hashisho
- Sep 11 2:43 PM ET