Explosion at US consulate in Pakistan kills diplomat

A suicide bomb killed a US diplomat and three other people on Mar. 2 in the port city of Karachi on the eve of President Bush's first visit to Pakistan. The blast tore through the parking lot of the Marriott hotel, 20 yards from the US consulate, wounding 52 people, propelling vehicles into the air and showering the streets with debris. The US diplomat, his driver and a Pakistani soldier who apparently tried to prevent the bomber reaching the consulate were killed immediately. An unidentified woman also perished. Bush vowed to press ahead with his trip, the final leg of his south Asian tour, saying he would not be deterred by "terrorists and killers." "We have lost at least one US citizen in the bombing, a foreign service officer, and I send our country's deepest condolences to that person's loved ones and family," he said while in neighboring India, adding: "Terrorists and killers are not going to prevent me from going to Pakistan." Security experts said the bombing was one of the largest ever in Karachi, a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalist militancy that has seen several suicide attacks since 2001. Security cameras showed a man jumping into a car and ramming into the diplomat's vehicle, named by Pakistani officials as David Foy. The blast shattered windows on all 10 hotel floors and flung wreckage as far as 200 yards. The remains of one victim landed on the second floor. A street vendor said the explosion was followed by a second blast, which police believe was caused by a car fuel tank. "I thought the explosions would burst my ear drums," he told the Associated Press. One US official said Foy was in charge of maintenance at the consulate, which has been heavily guarded since a 2002 car bomb attack that killed 15 Pakistanis. A statement from Pakistan's foreign ministry expressed sadness over the diplomat's death and said the bombing was a "senseless act" that "fortifies our resolve to fight terrorism." Anti-US sentiment was inflamed in January by the bombing of a tribal village that missed its target and killed as many as 22 villagers. Ali Dayan Hasan of Human Rights Watch said the bomb was "designed to send a message to President Bush about the political isolation of General Musharraf and the fragility of US interests in Pakistan."