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. Tuesday, 19 March, 2002


Pakistan Suspends Islamabad Police Chief After Church Attack

VOA News
19 Mar 2002
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Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has suspended four senior police officers over a security lapse connected to a deadly grenade attack on a church near the U-S Embassy in Islamabad. 

A government spokesman says General Musharraf took the decision at high-level security talks in Islamabad Tuesday. The four suspended officers include the capital's police chief. Five people were killed in the attack, including a U.S. diplomat's wife and his teenage daughter, an Afghan and a Pakistani woman. Police say they believe the fifth victim, who is still unidentified, may be the attacker. Forty-five people were wounded. President Musharraf expressed "dismay" that someone with grenades could walk into a church in the city's diplomatic enclave where dozens of diplomats, their family members and foreign aid workers were worshipping. 

There have been no claims of responsibility for the attack. Police say they suspect it was carried out by Islamic militants who oppose the U.S.-led war on terrorism and resent the Pakistani government's crackdown on religious extremists. 

General Musharraf has telephoned President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell to express his sympathies for the loss of American lives, and to give assurances that Pakistan is making every effort to bring the killers to justice. 

President Bush said the United States will also do all it can to help with the investigation. 

The U.S. State Department has warned Americans not to travel to Pakistan. A statement issued late Monday, also urges U.S. citizens currently residing in, or visiting, Pakistan to exercise utmost caution and avoid crowds and public gatherings. 

Some information for this report provided by AFP.

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