31.   The bombing came as the Israeli military had Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat surrounded in his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah after entering the compound early Friday.

32.   The bombing came Monday morning as Masood representatives and the Taliban militia, which control Kabul, exchanged conditional ceasefire proposals.

33.   The bombing came as the Palestinian Authority contemplated an array of reforms to root out corruption and inefficiency and in particular to streamline its sprawling security services.