Pakistan's capital was under security lockdown yesterday ahead of a visit by US President George W. Bush and a nationwide strike by Islamists against cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
Thousands of troops and police lined the streets ahead of Bush's scheduled arrival in Islamabad late yesterday, a day after a suicide bomber in the southern city of Karachi killed a US diplomat outside the US consulate.
Bush was expected to use the attack to nudge Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a key ally in the "war on terror," to commit more resources to capturing al-Qaeda kingpin Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri.
"The bombing that took place prior to my trip is an indication that the war on terror goes on and that free nations must come together to fight terrorism," Bush said late on Thursday in New Delhi.
Bush vowed that the "terrorists and killers" behind the attack -- suspected to be Islamic militants angered by Musharraf's close ties to Washington -- would not deter him from visiting Pakistan.
Commandos took positions on rooftops and security forces also spread out in the forested hills overlooking Islamabad, from where militants planned a rocket attack on Musharraf in 2003, officials said.
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