Israelis call for Sharon to resign

Israeli Army chief of staff Moshe Yaalon said it could well lead to a flare-up in violence in the region, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Israeli Interior Minister Avraham Poraz was also quoted by the BBC as "fearing a Palestinian retaliation" for the assassination of Yassin, which drew worldwide outrage.

The Israeli army, police and domestic security service all stepped up their level of alert in the wake of the barbaric helicopter raid.

Police reinforcements were deployed in shopping malls across Israel and security was raised on buses, police said, adding that the alert could be maintained for several weeks.

The radio said that security had also been boosted at Israeli embassies around the world, after Hamas declared all-out war against Israel.

Quoting military intelligence officials, the radio said Israel feared reprisals for the assassination might be carried out by foreign groups like Lebanon’s Hizbullah or Al-Qaeda network.

A statement purporting to be from a group affiliated to Al-Qaeda urged Monday retaliation against the United States and its allies for the Israeli crime.

The Israeli army completely sealed off the West Bank and Gaza Strip after Monday’s raid, that also killed eight other Palestinians.

On the financial landscape, stocks slid to new lows after the Israeli crime has fed global security fears and prompted a broad decline.

The security concerns sent major stock indexes down more than 1 percent to their lowest levels since December.

Gaza City resembled a virtual ghost town on Tuesday as Palestinians across the occupied territories observed three days of national mourning decreed by President Yasser Arafat.

All shops and schools were closed while flags were being flown at half-mast.

Buses Deserted

One 21 -year-old international relations student at Tel Aviv University said the very idea of traveling on a bus at this time was "the most crazy thing I’ve ever heard of."

On a student’s budget, she cannot afford to pay for a taxi every day and would normally catch the bus. But not today.

"I know it sounds dreadful but I’m just waiting for the next attack to happen, then we can breath again. The attacks won’t stop but at least there will be less tension," she said on condition of anonymity.

Gila, a24 -year-old student standing outside the Arlozoroff train station in northern Tel Aviv, also said he would steer well clear of buses.

"I don’t normally take the bus but I certainly wouldn’t today," he said.

"Of course I’m afraid, but it’s not going to stop the attacks. There will be more. That’s just the way it works."

Ten minutes earlier, the relative calm outside the station was shattered as one of the dozens of security guards deployed around the area discovered a suspicious object in the middle of the adjacent bus station, bringing at least three police vans screeching to the scene, sirens wailing.

A Thrill Of Fear

Sitting among a small handful of people travelling on the number 18 bus heading into town, Nili Davidor, a17 -year-old from occupied Jerusalem who is just about to enter the army, admitted that despite her apparently calm exterior, she was actually very scared. "This [assassination] won’t stop them, it will do the complete opposite and there will be more attacks," she said.

Every day she takes the bus and every day she is afraid, scanning absolutely every person who steps aboard.

"You could just die, any time. I don’t have a choice. If I did, I would do something else. Killing Yassin won’t help in the short term and I’m not even sure it will help in the long term.

Sitting further back, Gilad Brown paid less attention to those getting on the bus, but he too did not feel any safer with Yassin winning martyrdom.

Dressed in a black Stetson hat, faded jeans and brown cowboy boots, the 45 -year-old Brown did not believe the attacks would let up, even though he thinks the strike was justified.

Amos Nahaisi, a32 -year-old tax adviser sitting on the number 63 bus which is packed with elderly pensioners.

Returning from the market with a huge box of fragrant strawberries, an upright pensioner in his70 s scrutinized every single passenger boarding the bus, making sure he has a forward-facing seat for just that reason.

"There will always be attacks, with or without Ahmad Yassin," he said.

Israeli left-wing activists demonstrated Monday in Tel Aviv in front of the ministry of defense, calling for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who oversaw the assassination of Yassin, to resign.

Israel’s tourism minister, Rehavam Zeevi, was shot dead in October 2001 in an operation claimed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) for the assassination of its secretary general Abu Ali Mostafa.