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. Monday, 18 March, 2002

Diplomats in Pakistan on High Alert After Grenade Attack

VOA News
18 Mar 2002
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Diplomatic missions and other foreign installations across Pakistan remain on high alert Monday, as authorities hunt for those behind Sunday's deadly assault on a Protestant church in Islamabad. 

The hand grenade attack near the U.S. embassy killed five worshippers and wounded 45 others. The dead include a American diplomat's wife and their teenage daughter, an Afghan, a Pakistani and a fifth unidentified victim - possibly the attacker. 

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has ordered an intensive manhunt as well as a high-level security meeting Tuesday to examine security measures at the church and other foreign installations. 

Sunday, Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said church officials had recently stopped Pakistani security forces from searching people entering the church, after church-goers complained of being inconvenienced. 

It is not clear what security was in place at or near the church when the attack occurred, and no one has claimed responsibility. 

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca cut short a visit to India today and headed to Islamabad. She is now expected to accompany the bodies of the American victims back to the United States. 

General Musharraf called the attack a ghastly act of terrorism aimed at sabotaging Pakistan's crackdown on religious extremists and the U.S.-led war on terrorism in neighboring Afghanistan. 

President Bush expressed outrage and condemned the killings as acts of murder that cannot be justified or tolerated. He said U.S. officials will work closely with Pakistan to find those responsible and bring them to justice. 

The Protestant International Church is attended by diplomatic families from about a dozen countries. Witnesses say about 70 worshipers were listening to a sermon in the church when a lone attacker entered, began shouting, and then started throwing grenades. 

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.

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