US President George W. Bush said Thursday that he was "furious" over a bombing at Hebrew University in Jerusalem that killed seven, including five US nationals.

"I am just as angry as Israel," Bush said in remarks before going into private talks with key Middle Eastern ally King Abdullah II of Jordan. "I am furious. I am mad."

"We are responding to the murder of Americans," Bush said. "We're responding all across the globe to murders of Americans."

"We're responding by working with our Arab friends, and Israel, of course, to track these people down."

The explosion Wednesday in the busy cafeteria on the university's Mount Scopus campus, claimed by the armed wing of radical Islamists Hamas, was the deadliest since Palestinian militants vowed to avenge a July 22 air raid on Gaza City that killed 15 Palestinians, including Hamas military chief Salah Shehade.

"There is an action plan going forward, and that's what I'm going to review with His Majesty. Step one is to develop a security force that actually serves the people, not a particular leader," Bush said, again alluding to US doubt as to whether Yasser Arafat is a credible and effective leader of the Palestinian people.

Step two, the US president said, is to develop a Palestinian constitution, and step three is to ensure transparency in Palestinian spending.

"We're here, obviously, to discuss how we can best move the process forward," said the ruler of Jordan, who with Egypt and Saudi Arabia make up the troika of US allies in the Arab world.

"And what has been so reassuring to me is that the president has the commitment to work very hard with his government to give the hope for Arabs and Israelis to be able to move to the future."

More than 40 of those injured in the blast were still in hospital on Thursday, including one person in critical condition and 11 still listed as serious.

Israel reimposed a strict curfew in the West Bank town of Nablus, and other universities announced they would step up security in the wake of the attack.

Five US nationals, including one with dual citizenship with France, were among the seven people killed in Wednesday's bombing at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, officials said Thursday.

The US State Department in Washington confirmed that Janis Coulter, 36, Marla Bennett, 24 and Benjamin Blutstein, 25, were among those who died in the explosion at the busy cafeteria in the Frank Sinatra International Student Center.

David Gritz, a 24-year-old who held both French and US citizenship, was also among the victims, the State Department said. The name of the fifth victim was withheld pending notification of her next of kin.

Israeli police said Coulter and Bennett had just arrived in Israel from the United States.

Two Israelis, David Ladovski, a 29-year-old student from Netanya, and Levina Shapira, 53, from Jerusalem, an administrator in charge of student affairs at Hebrew University, were also killed in Wednesday's bombing, officials said.

About 70 people were reported wounded, including one in critical and 11 in serious condition.

Israeli radio said that foreigners accounted for most of those wounded in the blast, which was claimed by the radical Palestinian group Hamas. Medical sources said 42 people were still hospitalized Thursday.AFP