It does not grant them freedom to flout local law, although they may be immune to local jurisdiction to enforce such laws. Contrary to a widespread belief, a diplomatic mission is not "extra-territorial": it is, however, given the protection of inviolability within the receiving state This rule refers to its premises and diplomatic dispatches. But all privileges and immunities are solely directed towards facilitating performance of diplomatic missions.. Two bombs, apparently planted by Palestinian guerrillas, injured thirteen people when they exploded in a poor area of south Tel Aviv last night in what may be the resumption of a Palestinian bombing campaign. Assaf Hefetz, the national police chief, said the bombs were packed with nails, indicating a guerrilla attack rather than a criminal feud. Another sign that the motive was political is that the first bomb exploded at 8.20 pm and the second ten minutes later, presumably to cause the maximum number of casualties. The bombs were planted ten yards from each other in Neve Sha'anan street near a sex cinema close to the old bus station in south Tel Aviv. This is a very different type of location from the four suicide bombs which killed 58 people in February and March which were targeted at buses, a shopping mall and a bus stop used by soldiers.

Asked if guerrillas were behind the attack Avigdor Kahalani, the Police Minister, said: "That's what we think." An eye witness said: "There was a very strong explosion under the Central Cinema, in a snack bar. Ten minutes later there was another blast."Another witness said: "It was a tremendous explosion A sunflower seed seller was hurt Police arrived five minutes later. As they were checking things another bomb went off and a policeman was hurt."The Israeli government immediately called on Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, to clamp down on guerrilla organisations operating from within autonomous Palestinian areas. Militant Islamic groups had said they would avenge an attack by a Jewish settler on Palestinians in Hebron market last week which left seven injured.It is unclear how far the attack will affect the talk on Israeli withdrawal from Hebron and the implementation of the Oslo agreement which would cede most of the West Bank to the Palestinians. This had already stalled because Mr Arafat has turned down Israel's demand for a two-year delay in its pull-out from West Bank villages.Nobody claimed responsibility for the bombings last night and there is still some chance that they were the result of a criminal dispute, but several Palestinian factions are still committed to military action.

These include Islamic Jihad, based in Damascus, which carried out the last suicide attack in Tel Aviv in March, and Hamas, which is divided about guerrilla actions, with its internal wing opposing them and its external wing, largely based in Jordan, giving them support. In December the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine killed two settlers in a car near Ramallah. The fact that nobody was killed last night in Tel Aviv may limit the political impact of the bombs.A survey of Palestinian public opinion carried out by the Centre for Palestine Research and Studies based in Nablus showed that between March and December last year the number of Palestinians favouring military action had increased from 22 per cent to 40 per cent. At the same time Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the PFLP have been weakened by lack of public support and pressure from the Palestinian security services.The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting the wounded in hospital, pledged to respond with "extreme severity" if it emerged the bombers came from Palestinian self-rule areas."If it becomes clear that the terrorists who carried out this attack came from the Palestinian Authority [area], we will respond with extreme severity," he said.. The continued success of the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban in Afghanistan has brought about a bizarre rerun of the 19th- century "Great Game", when British and Russian diplomats engaged in cloak-and-dagger operations to establish influence in Afghanistan and Central Asia in the face of a Russian threat to invade the British Raj in India But in the new game, the players are rather different. Russia has quietly asked Britain for help, and the two former imperial adversaries find themselves arrayed with France, Iran and other former Soviet republics against Britain's ally the United States. In recent weeks, the Taliban - "seekers of religious knowledge" - who seized Kabul in the autumn have continued to drive back the Jamiat-i-Islami faction led by the military commander General Ahmed Shah Masood.The Taliban have continued to make gains north of Kabul, near the entrance to the key Panjshir valley, the scene of much fighting during the Soviet Union's 10-year Afghan war, which leads north-east to Tajikistan. Fighting has recently taken place around Bagram airbase, north of the capital.The Independent has learnt that Russia has hinted to Britain that it wants more help against the Taliban and in support of General Masood's troops.

This is consistent with Russian noises about concern for their "near abroad" and requests for Nato help in dealing with Central Asian instability.The Jamiat-i-Islami gains its support mainly from the Farsi (Persian)- speaking ethnic group in Afghanistan and has supporters in Russia, Iran and India. All these countries support General Masood against the extreme Sunni Taliban, who are mostly ethnic Pathans. So do Britain and France, which are both concerned about Islamic fundamentalism.Iran is unhappy about the presence of the Taliban just across its border. The Sunni Taliban movement's strong sentiments against the Shia and Pathan domination of a largely Persian-speaking area of Afghanistan, are both most unwelcome to Iran.

Neighbouring Uzbekistan is uneasy about Islamic fundamentalists, particularly Pathans, so close to its borders. Tajikistan fears that fundamentalist influences might reinforce Islamic insurgents on its territory, and Russia fears they might spread in Russia, too.On 4 October last year, Russia called a conference of the CIS to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, which is adding to its concerns about security in the former Soviet Union - the "near abroad". By the end of last year, Russia was openly asking Nato for help in improving security in central Asia.Pakistan, which has given some encouragement and support to the Taliban, also has its concerns. It is worried that the Taliban may revive demands for an independent Pathan state (Pushtunistan) which would incorporate an extensive belt of Pakistani territory.The Pakistan government also worries about a spill-over of militant Islam from Afghani- stan, which is already hap- pening - the Taliban have received training and weaponry from extreme Islamic groups in Pakistan.However, alone among the great powers, the United States has been supporting the Taliban - because of its historic antipathy towards both Russia and Iran. Diplomatic sources said they found the US attitude rather naive, but there was no doubt of its direction.That has brought about the unlikely and unwelcome prospect of British and French weaponry and advisers on General Masood's side clashing with US advisers and materiel on the Taliban side. The Foreign Office said yesterday that it remained committed to the present arms embargo prohibiting supplies to Afghanistan and that Britain's main concern was to maintain the Overseas Development Administration's aid project in Afghanistan which the Taliban regime has hindered.Diplomatic sources said they were very concerned about the repression of women and the implementation of their interpretation of Islamic sharia law, but has refused to comment on suggestions that Britain was playing a more active role, and stressed that British diplomats in the region would meet representatives of any of the warring factions. However, other sources say that other options are also being canvassed.Afghanistan is already awash with weapons, mostly inherited from the 10-year Soviet war.