March 18, 2002	Monday	Muharram 3, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, March 17: The authorities investigating the Protestant International Church attack believe the suspect died while detonating the grenades.

The authorities described the suspect as a man in his early 20s who entered the church and reached the hall where a service was being held before starting hurling grenades from his bag.

Lt-Col Masroor of the Special Army Monitoring Team while briefing the Federal Minister for Minorities, S.K. Tresslor, at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in the presence of media, said the terrorist had straightened the pins of several grenades in his bag to save time. After he threw some of them, the pin of one of the grenades in his bag came off causing a big blast which also damaged the roof of the church, he said.

“Perhaps the terrorist also died in the attack,” he told the minister.

According to PIMS officials, only one unidentified dead body was shifted to the hospital. The body is beyond recognition, executive director PIMS Dr Azhar Mehmood said.

The other four dead have been identified. Their bodies were kept in the mortuary of the Federal Government Services Hospital till the filing of the report.

Several injured told Dawn they saw only one man hurling the grenades. Neither the police officials nor the injured saw the terrorist fleeing the church.

US OFFICIALS: Officials of American investigating agencies have been attached with the Pakistani law enforcement agencies to investigate attack on International Protestant Church.

“We have investigators from the US law enforcement agency who were working with the Pakistani agencies,” Press Counsellor of US Embassy Mark Windworth told reporters here on Sunday.

He avoided to give clear reply when asked whether the US Federal Bureau of Investigation was also investigating the case.

He did not name any agency but replied in affirmative that American investigators had been attached to Pakistani law enforcement agencies.