US President George W Bush and other top US officials were "outraged" today at a bomb attack on a church in Pakistan that left five people dead, including an American woman and her teenage daughter.
"I am outraged by the terrorist attack that took place today in Islamabad, Pakistan against innocent civilians," Mr Bush said in a statement. "I strongly condemn them as acts of murder that cannot be tolerated by any person of conscience nor justified by any cause."
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Pakistani soldiers examine debris inside the main hall of the Protestant International Church after today's grenade attack Photo: Reuters
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Police said a man entered the Protestant International Church in Islamabad's tightly-guarded diplomatic enclave this morning and hurled as many as eight grenades into the congregation.
Most worshippers dived for cover as five or six explosions ripped through the church.
At least three children were among the 46 wounded in the church, which is regularly attended by the families of foreign diplomats and other expatriates.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf called the attack "an act of sabotage against Pakistan's national interests".
US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell added to the condolences extended to the families of the victims by the US president, adding the US was "cooperating closely with Pakistani law enforcement officials in the investigation and are determined to see the guilty parties swiftly brought to justice."
Pakistan's Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said a suspect had not yet been found, "but there is one unidentified body, and (we) are seeing the possibility of that man being involved in this attack."
Asked who Islamabad suspected was behind the attack, Haider said "I guess it is people who want to give a message to the West and those people who are against this war against terrorism."
Those responsible, he added, have committed "a crime against humanity, a crime against Islam, a crime against Pakistan."
AFP