BRITAIN: The wife of the British Prime Minister, Ms Cherie Blair, has apologised for comments politicians said appeared to justify Palestinian suicide bombers.
Speaking hours after yesterday's suicide bombing in Jerusalem, she told reporters: "As long as young people feel they have got no hope but to blow themselves up, you are never going to make progress".
Mrs Blair, a human rights lawyer, made her controversial comments next to Queen Rania of Jordan at a charity appeal for medical aid for Palestinians.
"If any offence has been taken from the interpretation of her comments then Ms Blair is obviously sorry," said a spokeswoman for Ms Blair.
"None was intended and it goes without saying that she condemns the atrocity today in the strongest possible terms along with all right-minded people.
"She did not and never would she ever condone suicide bombers or say they had no choice."
The remarks were condemned by opposition deputies, while the Israeli embassy in London expressed its "regret" at "any public statements which might be interpreted as expressing understanding for Palestinian terrorism".
In Washington, President Bush denounced the suicide bombing, and said the Middle East vision he is expected to lay out this week "rejects terror and killing".
"We believe in peace in the Middle East, that we're going to be steadfast toward a vision that rejects terror and killing, and honours peace and hope," Mr Bush said.
The White House said Mr Bush would not lay out his new strategy yesterday and denied that the timing was linked to the latest bombing.
"The president condemns this act of terrorism in the strongest possible terms," Mr Scott McClellan said after the attack.
Separately, US officials said the Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, was expected to travel to the Middle East shortly after Mr Bush unveils his eagerly awaited new strategy, expected to centre on the eventual creation of a Palestinian state.
Mr Powell could make the trip as early as next week to brief Israel, the Palestinians, Arab nations and other interested parties on Mr Bush's vision and organise an international conference to pursue those ideas, the officials said.
"Once the president has announced his vision, sending Powell to the region - with stops along the way - will be our next step," one official said.
"We will need to begin to get things organised as we move forward and this is a way to do that," the official said on condition of anonymity.
Media accounts of Mr Bush's still secret vision have predicted that he will renew his call for a Palestinian state and potentially endorse creating a provisional version of such an entity; call for an international conference to discuss the issue; and emphasise the need for Mr Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority to enact sweeping reforms focused on ending anti-Israeli violence.
Those same accounts, based on comments by unnamed administration officials, have suggested Mr Bush will omit discussion of many of the thorniest issues, including what the final borders of such a state would look like; the fate of refugees; and Jerusalem.
The bombing was condemned by the Spanish Foreign Minister, Mr Minister Josep Pique on behalf of the Spanish EU Presidency, as being carried out by "the enemies of peace."