18 March 2002

U.S. Working with Pakistan on Islamabad Church Bombing

State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said the Pakistani government's investigation into the March 17 terrorist attack on an Islamabad church was proceeding with U.S. assistance.

The attack, described by Boucher as a "barbaric and cowardly terrorist act on civilians," killed five Pakistani, Afghan and U.S citizens, and injured 42 others.

Speaking at the March 18 State Department briefing in Washington, Boucher said the Pakistani authorities were determined to see justice done.

"The Pakistani authorities are making every effort to swiftly identify the perpetrators of this crime and to bring them to justice, as well as to protect Americans and other foreigners who live there. We are cooperating with them," said Boucher.

Boucher said there would always be risks to Americans overseas, and that U.S. authorities worked with local governments, and take the best precautions they can.

"One would have hoped that there would be some respect for a church, but even that doesn't always exist," said Boucher.

Boucher said the U.S. government was now working to repatriate the remains of Barbara Green and her 17-year-old daughter, the two Americans who were killed in the attack.

Following is an excerpt from the March 18 State Department briefing:

Question: Can we move on to the aftermath of the church bombing in Pakistan?

Mr. Boucher: Yes.

Question: Can you give us anything more you have on that, any more

evidence of whether it was or was not targeted at the Americans?

Anything like that?

Mr. Boucher: I think the answer is we don't know much more about who

did it and why. The investigation is ongoing. There's a Pakistani investigation proceeding with US assistance. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, and there have been no arrests.

Ambassador Chamberlain and South Asia Assistant Secretary Rocca met today with the Interior Minister and the Foreign Minister of Pakistan.

Both of them reiterated the Pakistani Government's commitment to cooperate fully with us and their determination to see that justice is done.

As you know, that was said also yesterday by the President, by Secretary Powell, the Department in our statements, and by Ambassador Chamberlain. We are all determined to see justice done in this matter.

We also condemned this barbaric and cowardly terrorist act on civilians and extended our sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims.

The Pakistani authorities are making every effort to swiftly identify the perpetrators of this crime and to bring them to justice, as well as to protect Americans and other foreigners who live there. We are cooperating fully with them.

As far as the details, a lot of this is out, but I'll go over it just for people who need it. There were two Americans, Barbara Green, an employee and spouse at the US Embassy, and her 17-year-old daughter who were among the five people killed in the attack. Mrs. Green's husband, Information Systems Officer Milton Green, was wounded. We will obviously be providing them with full assistance and support, as well as to all American citizens, including members of our diplomatic community in Islamabad who were affected by the attack.

We are aware of at least 14 private Americans who were injured in the attack. Recent media reports have indicated there may have been others, but we are still working to verify that independently. To the best of our knowledge, no non-US Government Americans were killed.

Some of the injured Americans are continuing to receive medical treatment in Islamabad.

We are working on the repatriation of remains of the Americans who were killed and for the medical evacuation of those Americans who require treatment outside of Pakistan.

Question: What about evacuation of American dependents? Is that being considered?

Mr. Boucher: We're reviewing all options with regard to our personnel and our dependents who are out there, but at this point we haven't made any decisions.

Question: Richard, the scuttlebutt in Islamabad is that Mrs. Green and her daughter had left Pakistan not long ago voluntarily and then returned. Do you have anything on that?

Mr. Boucher: I do believe that was the case because we had, as you know, evacuated dependents there on -- I guess it was March 2nd we issued a new Travel Warning that indicated that we were allowing our dependents to go back. Clearly we all want to be as careful as possible with our personnel, but, as you know, the departure of our dependents and non-emergency personnel had gone on for months. People at posts were looking forward to having their families back with them, and at that time we operated on the best security information we had.

Question: I mean, can I just ask about the phrase because when we use terms like "evacuation" and, in fact, what's happened is an authorized or ordered departure, we get yelled at. Did you really mean to say "evacuation"?

Mr. Boucher: Did I say "evacuation"?

Question: Yes.

Mr. Boucher: I'm just picking it up from the questioner. It was -- I can't even remember. Was it authorized departure or ordered departure?

Ms. Cassel: Authorized.

Mr. Boucher: Authorized departure.

Question: And the difference, though, just to make sure I have it clear, an evacuation is when you bring in military planes and things like that in an emergency situation and take people out?

Mr. Boucher: Well, I mean, there are varying degrees of this. Even under ordered departure we often -- often people leave commercially if the flights are available. It's only when commercial transportation is not available that we might organize an evacuation, as it is commonly known.

I don't have the previous one to this one, but we understand it was authorized, right? Authorized departure.

Question: This is lower down the list than ordered --

Mr. Boucher: Authorized departure, ordered departure, and then

evacuation, I suppose when we --

Question: Authorized means you can leave; ordered means you have to leave?

Mr. Boucher: Yes.

Question: Now you've based a new Worldwide Caution on these attacks,

saying that there's evidence it may be taking place around the world.

How can you tell people to be more careful than in a guarded church, right near an embassy?

Mr. Boucher: I mean, it was outside an embassy. Nonetheless, it was in a diplomatic area of town, where there's a lot of police. It's just an example. Our people and many Americans abroad, they do everything they can to provide for their safety. In our Worldwide Caution, we indicate that this and other threats continue to be out there, and Americans need to take every possible precaution. They need to exercise whatever security awareness they can. They may want to look at locations where large numbers of Americans don't congregate. One would have hoped that there would be some respect for a church, but even that doesn't always exist.

So we all take the best precautions we can. We work with local governments, including the government of Pakistan, to provide the best possible security and protection for our people. But there are always going to be risks out there.

Question: Is there some kind of message that terrorists are trying to send to the US, or also that means terrorism or terrorist organizations are still existing in Pakistan, and General Musharraf is not able to control them?

Mr. Boucher: I have no idea who did this and why.

Question: Has the Secretary made any calls specifically about this after the --

Mr. Boucher: He spoke to President Musharraf this morning about this, and without going into any detail, I would say that we have cooperation in this matter and a commitment to bringing people to justice.

Question: And do you know if, in terms of -- you said the investigation -- the Pakistani investigation was going on with US -- did you say assistance or --

Mr. Boucher: Assistance, yes.

Question: Are those the same people that were already there, or have more been sent out?

Mr. Boucher: I don't think at this point that any new people have gotten there. Obviously we will provide every possible assistance and support. But as you know, we have a variety of law enforcement and other personnel in Pakistan who can work on these things and who do work on these things immediately.

Question: As far as you know, the Pakistanis haven't asked for any specific condition --

Mr. Boucher: Not that I'm aware of.

Question: Is Christina Rocca's trip now cut short? Is she -- I had read one report that she may be accompanying the bodies back?

Mr. Boucher: She was hoping to. I'm not sure actually if the timing is going to work out on that. She did cut short her visit to India in order to fly to Pakistan. She'll hold her meetings in New Delhi at a later date. She made this unscheduled visit to Pakistan following the terrorist attack at the church. She is meeting with members of the American Embassy community, including Ambassador Chamberlain, offering support following this cowardly attack.

In Pakistan she had some meetings with Pakistani officials. As I said, she and the Ambassador met with the Interior Minister and the Foreign Minister today. But her primary objective is to work with the US Embassy in response to the attack. She has been on a two-week trip, and I don't have a precise return date. But as we move to try to repatriate the remains of those who were killed, if it's possible, I am sure she will accompany them back.

Question: This is her last stop?

Mr. Boucher: On the trip?

Question: Yes. So she would have been coming home anyway?

Mr. Boucher: Yes, New Delhi was the last stop. She had been in Chennai, that's Madras in India, before going on to Delhi. So she had already been in India a day or two.

Question: Was there an advance warning of this attack in any way?

Mr. Boucher: Not that I have ever heard of, no.