People were still sitting out drinking coffee smiling talking to each other while blocks

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People were still sitting out, drinking coffee, smiling, talking to each other, while blocks away there were children bleeding to death on the sidewalk."Raed Mesak, a 29-year-old mosque preacher from Hebron and a father of two, had blown himself up on a bus ferrying dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews home from evening prayers at the Western Wall.Jerusalem crashed back to earth. It was heartwarming."Suddenly, boys were running down the street, people getting into their cars, listening to the radio and talking animatedly on their mobile phones. We decided to take a walk."I hadn't seen Jerusalem packed with so many people for such a long time It was like a rebirth The city was coming back to itself. The feeling, shared by many others, was that the war was coming to an end."We found a lovely French restaurant in the centre of town," she said. "We got there at eight o'clock and we finished eating at 10 after nine. Naomi Ragen, a bestselling Israeli-American author, had spent all day working on her next novel, the story of a fictional terrorist attack. Her husband suggested they make the most of a cool Jerusalem night and go out for dinner. After three years of intifada violence, which had turned the city centre into a social and commercial desert, they decided "to enjoy the freedom to visit our own town again".

terrorism is not just against the United States or against the United Kingdom or against Israel. This is a war against the world, and attacking the United Nations was an attack on the international community, on the world, and it's an attack on the people of Iraq.". And we do have a responsibility to ensure that."At the UN yesterday, Mr Straw said: "No one should be in any doubt now that ... "And an Iraq that is destabilised, an Iraq that is in chaos, is not in the interests of the region or the world. We are aware that people are apprehensive."Mr Annan, who held a video-linked question-and-answer session with UN employees around the world yesterday, led the organisation in a minute's silence for those who were killed when the suicide bomb was exploded."There were divisions before the war, but we all realise that it is urgent to help bring peace to Iraq," he said. It doesn't seem out of the question that [Japanese troops] could be targeted for attack." Thailand, which was to send 400 soldiers, is also reviewing its position and Thaksin Shinawatra, the Prime Minister, said he had asked senior officers to evaluate the safety of Iraq.One US official said: "We are going to be looking to see if there are ways to entice them to contribute. In the aftermath of Tuesday's bomb attack on the UN offices in Baghdad, which killed at least 23 people, some countries that had offered troops are having second thoughts.

Japan has postponed deployment of the 1,000 troops it was going to send and Shigeru Ishiba, the head of the Japan's defence department, said: "A dispatch may not be feasible this year. Other countries, including India, Pakistan and Turkey, have also ruled out contributing troops to anything other than a UN force.Without American agreement to cede some control to the world body, diplomats said the possibility of a robust international force appeared unlikely to attract new support. That's what US leadership brings to the coalition."Mr Powell said that 30 countries, including Britain, were already providing more than 20,000 troops with a further four ready to commit forces. Another 14 countries were considering the matter, he said.Britain has been pressing for a greater UN role in Iraq, though officials at the UN said they were not expecting the US to cede authority. Rather, they talk of the new resolution (a draft of which could be circulated as soon as today) providing "cover" for those countries, which may be reluctant to provide troops for domestic reasons. The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, will discuss the issue with Mr Annan today in the hope of being able to draw Muslim countries, such as Pakistan, Jordan and Egypt, into the peace-keeping effort.But France, which has a veto in the council, is warning that it will only provide troops if the Allies hand over political and military control to the UN.