U.S. pledges to help Pakistan pursue those responsible for church attack

? The United States says it will help Pakistan pursue the terrorists responsible for a grenade attack at a Protestant church used by foreigners. Five people were killed, including a U.S. Embassy employee and her teen-age daughter.

Ten Americans were among the 45 people injured in Sunday’s attack about 400 yards from the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.

President Bush said he was outraged. “I strongly condemn them as acts of murder that cannot be tolerated by any person of conscience nor justified by any cause,” he said in a statement.

“We will work closely with the government of Pakistan to ensure those responsible for this terrorist attack face justice,” Bush said.

Bush spoke with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Monday. Musharraf “expressed his sympathies for the loss of life and injuries” that Americans sustained, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

At least one young man – possibly two – ran through the Protestant International Church during a Sunday service. No group claimed responsibility, but suspicion fell on those angered by Musharraf’s crackdown on Islamic extremism.

The embassy identified the Americans as Barbara Green, who worked in administration at the embassy, and her daughter, Kristen Wormsley, a senior at the American School in Islamabad. Green’s husband works in the embassy’s computer division.

A State Department official said Green and Wormsley and other embassy officials and dependents left Pakistan in September not long after the terrorist attacks in the United States. The departure was authorized by the State Department because of concerns about the safety of the embassy community.

In late January, the State Department concluded the situation had improved and allowed the departed Americans to return, the official said.

Secretary of State Colin Powell issued a statement denouncing the “despicable attack on an international church” and offered his condolences.

The State Department was taking every precaution to protect U.S. staff overseas and ensuring that Americans traveling abroad “have all the information they need to make informed judgments about their safety,” White House spokesman Sean McCormack said.

“This terrible act is an awful reminder that terrorism is still a threat to Americans overseas, and Americans overseas should take whatever actions they deem appropriate to secure their safety and raise their security consciousness,” he said.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Musharraf clearly “does not have control over parts of his country and elements of his society, and he’s got a long way to go.” McCain said on “Fox News Sunday” that he supports more U.S. assistance, including economic aid and greater intelligence cooperation, for Pakistan.

Sen. Bob Graham, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on CNN’s “Late Edition” that he was concerned the attack “may represent another form of escalation of the response to our war on terrorism.”

Graham, D-Fla., worried that churches and other places that attract large numbers of Americans could “become the objects of terrorist activities throughout Central Asia and the Middle East.”