Survivor of Church Attacks Threatened

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - A woman who helped police draw sketches of gunmen who killed 16 people at a church said Wednesday that one attacker called and warned her to ``get ready for death.''

Authorities said 100 people have been detained for questioning about the attack Sunday on St. Dominic's Roman Catholic Church in Behawalpur, a city in south-central Pakistan.

Maryam Jalal, 70, survived the attack, and helped police sketch out three of six suspects.

On Tuesday, she said, she received a call from a man who identified himself as one of the attackers.

``I had spared the old lady on Sunday, but now she will die,'' Jalal quoted the caller as saying. ``Get ready for death,'' he told her.

``The caller has also threatened to kill my all children,'' Jalal told The Associated Press by telephone from Behawalpur.

Police immediately put her under heavy guard. She also is a close relative of S.K. Tressler, Pakistan's minister for minorities.

The gunmen burst into St. Dominic's during Protestant services of the Church of Pakistan, spraying the congregation with gunfire. Sixteen people were killed, including the minister and a Muslim police officer guarding the church outside.

Investigators have rounded up dozens of suspects from different areas of Pakistan. At least 100 were in police custody Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Tressler said the gunmen don't belong to any religion.

``This was an act of madness and was not directed toward any particular sect,'' the minister said. He said the gunmen wanted to defame Pakistan, and he praised the region's Christians for staying peaceful after the attack.

``We should remain united against the terrorists,'' Tressler said.

Some in Behawalpur believe the attacks were linked to the U.S. campaign against terrorism, which has led to more than three weeks of airstrikes in neighboring Afghanistan (news - web sites).

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has ordered stepped-up security at all Christian churches in Pakistan.

Pakistan is 97 percent Muslim. Christians constitute a small portion of the remaining 3 percent.

The United States is trying to destroy installations belonging to the al-Qaida network and its leader, Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), top suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.