The Isreali Security forces were still searching Thursday morning for a British Muslim man who managed to flee when his explosive device did not detonate in Tuesday night's terror attack in Tel Aviv. The police and Shin Bet have requested the public's help in locating him.

The man who carried out the suicide bombing was also British.

Security forces remained on high alert in the Dan region Thursday morning, Israel Radio reported.

The man who carried out the suicide bombing late Tuesday night at a Tel Aviv beachfront pub was identified in his British passport as 21-year-old Asif Mohammed Hanif.

The British man who managed to escape, after scuffling with bystanders at the pub, was named as 27-year-old Omar Khan Sharif. Sharif, who speaks fluent English, dropped his explosive device while fleeing, and it was detonated safely by police sappers.

A British Foreign Office spokesman said the U.K. was in close contact with Israel on security matters, condemned all terrorist attacks and said his office would give the Israelis any assistance requested.

British Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien told BBC television that the British government would cooperate fully with Israel to establish who the bombers were.

"The Israelis are in consultation with us at the moment about getting some information, and I understand the Home Office will do all it can to enable the Israelis to identify who these individuals were, if indeed they are British subjects," he said.

"They certainly were carrying, it appears, British passports; therefore we need to help [the Israelis] get the one that's escaped and identify the other one," he said.

Both Hanif and Sharif entered Israel from the Gaza Strip, which has a security fence surrounding it, the first time an attack was carried out from there in the 31 months of the intifada.

Israeli security sources said the Shin Bet had been on the lookout for possible infiltration by pro-Palestinian militants using Western passports.

The police have not said how the two militants allegedly entered Gaza. Hanif and Sharif are not common names in the Palestinian territories. The Israeli security sources said the two may have come from elsewhere in the region, such as Lebanon or Syria.

Asked about the police statement, a Hamas official told Reuters: "We have no idea about this."

Three Israelis killed in bombing
Three people were killed and 60 wounded, one critically and five seriously, when a suicide bomber blew himself up at around 1 A.M. Tuesday night at a beachfront pub on Herbert Samuel Street in Tel Aviv. Eleven of the wounded are IDF soldiers and two are tourists.

Two men and one woman were killed in the blast. Yanai Weiss, 46, from the nearby city of Holon was killed in the bombing. Weiss was a musician who had been playing at the pub on Tuesday night. He was laid to rest at 5 P.M. Wednesday in Holon. Ran Baron, 24, from Tel Aviv, was also killed in the blast. Baron will be buried at 5 P.M. Thursday at the Kiryat Shaul cemetery. The third victim of the attack was named as Dominique Caroline Hess, 29, from Tel Aviv. Dominique immigrated to Israel five years ago from France. The French Embassy is trying to arrange to fly her body to France for burial as soon as possible.

The pub where the attack took place, "Mike's Place," is located close to the United States embassy, and is popular with tourists. The embassy was not damaged in the blast.

The bomber, who was killed in the blast, set off the explosives at the entrance to the pub after the security guard on duty at the door physically prevented him from entering.

The security guard was seriously wounded in the blast, and is receiving treatment at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, Army Radio reported.

The attack was jointly planned by the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and the Al Qassam Brigades, a man calling himself Abu Barek told AFP by telephone.

"This attack was carried out by a martyr from Tul Karm to avenge Mazen Erapeh, an Al Aqsa member recently killed in Nablus [by the Israeli army], and was jointly planned by the Al Aqsa and Al Qassam Brigades," he said.

Ten people who were lightly hurt received medical attention at the scene. The rest of the wounded were evacuated to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Beilison Medical Center in Petah Tikva and Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer.

"A suicide bomber blew himself up at Mike's Place bar on the seafront walkway," said Tel Aviv police commander Yossi Sedbon. "The attacker did not succeed in getting into the bar."

Sedbon said that the bomber was carrying a medium-size bomb packed with nails and other shrapnel.

The bomb blew the front off the bar and wrecked furniture inside. The owner of the bar, Gal Ganzman, his shirt covered with blood, said he was standing behind the bar when he heard the explosion. "I'm alive, I'm fine," he said. "One of the waitresses lost an arm but she's still alive. The boom was just outside the entrance. The security guard must have stopped him."

In a similar attack last Thursday, a security guard stopped a bomber entering a train station in Kfar Sava and was killed when the attacker set off his explosives.

Tuesday's attack came only hours after the Palestinian parliament voted to approve the new cabinet presented by Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). In his inaugural address, Abu Mazen indicated that his new government would move against militia groups and he called for an end to "terrorism," which he said had not served the Palestinian cause.

The extremist Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups, however, issued a rapid riposte, saying they would not lay down their weapons as long as the Israeli occupation continued. Some observers suggested the attack in Tel Aviv was a message from the armed Islamic groups to Abu Mazen and his new government that they rejected all attempts to bring about a ceasefire.

"This attack in Tel Aviv is another reminder that the new Palestinian government must take immediate steps to rein in the terrorists in its midst and take decisive measures to stop the terrorism from pouring into Israel," David Baker, an official in the Prime Minister's office told Haaretz.

International condemnation
The White House condemned the suicide bombing as a "cowardly act," but said it would not scuttle the start of a new peace initiative.

"We condemn this cowardly act of terrorism. These homicide bombers are not only attempting to murder innocent civilians, but they are also attempting to kill the aspirations of the Palestinian people for their own free, democratic, prosperous state," said White House National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan also condemned the attack, and urged both sides not to allow it to derail the recently resumed peace process.

Germany also condemned the Tel Aviv bombing, saying the "enemies of peace" must not be allowed to win.

The timing "once again exposes the mind-set of the enemies of peace," German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said in a statement. "They must not be allowed to triumph."