The bomber blew himself up on an Israeli commuter bus, killing at least seven people and wounding 20.

Another suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt in the area but killed only himself, bringing the overall toll to nine dead in a fresh spasm of bloodshed hours after Sharon met his new reformist Palestinian counterpart.

They were the highest-level talks between the sides for two years.

The talks had already been marred by a Palestinian suicide attack in the divided West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday night that killed two Jewish settlers.

Palestinian militant groups waging a 31-month-long revolt against Israel have sworn to defy Palestinian Premier Mahmoud Abbas and scuttle the "road map" peace plan unfurled by Bush and partners of the US in a mediating Quartet two weeks ago.

Sharon was to have met Bush at the White House on Tuesday to raise his reservations about the "road map," which stipulates confidence-building steps leading to a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by 2005.

The first suicide bomber blew himself up aboard the bus around 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) in the northern French Hill district, a city police spokeswoman said. French Hill is on land Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.

"A powerful explosion ripped through the bus. The driver lost control and the bus rolled backwards. The bus was completely broken up," Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy told Israel radio.

TWO BOMBERS DISGUISED AS RELIGIOUS JEWS

Levy said the bomber was disguised as a religious Jew wearing a skullcap and a prayer shawl. The Palestinian attacker who killed the Jewish settler and his pregnant wife in Hebron bore the same disguise.

The second blast came less than half an hour later by a roadblock not far away at the entrance to the city. Police said only a Palestinian militant they identified as intending to carry out a suicide attack was killed.

"The Prime Minister has postponed his trip to the United States and his meeting with US President George Bush in light of the wave of terrorism," Sharon's office said in a statement.

The US government had no immediate comment on the bombings or the postponement. Sharon would be holding consultations with security officials throughout the day, his office said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either Jerusalem blast.

The family of a 21-year-old Hebron Palestinian man said the Islamic group Hamas had informed them that he had carried out the bombing in the volatile West Bank city.

(China Daily May 18, 2003)