Jerusalem: At least seven bus passengers were killed and 20 people injured in two separate suicide attacks on May 18 morning, hours after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestine Premier Mahmoud Abbas held their first official meeting to discuss roadmap for peace.

In the first attack, a suicide bomber blew himself in a city bus shortly before 06:00 hours local time (08:30 hours IST) at the intersection near French Hill in North Jerusalem killing seven people and the bomber. 20 were wounded in the blast, police said.

A second suicide bomber blew himself up half an hour after the bus bombing, at the entry to the nearby Dahit al-Barid village in East Jerusalem, Israeli media reported. Police said no other person was injured in the blast.

Sharon, who was scheduled to leave for Washington on May 18 to meet US President George W Bush, has postponed his visit after the attacks.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks as yet.

The attacks come hours after Sharon and Abbas met to discuss a new peace plan. This was the first top- level Israel-Palestine meeting in three years.

Jerusalem Police Chief Mickey Levy told Israel Radio that the bomber boarded the bus near Pisgat Ze'ev, close to the Green Line border.

PTI