U.S. Withdraws Staff From Pakistan

The U.S. State Department on Friday ordered the departure of dependants and nonessential personnel from posts in Pakistan in the wake of last week's deadly church bombing, CBS News Correspondent Charles Wolfson reports.

The State Department said dependents and non-essential workers would be removed from the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and the U.S. consulate in Lahore.

"We will be identifying non-emergency personnel and dependents and they will then make arrangements for the departure of those people expeditiously. However, our embassy and consulates will remain open," said State Department spokesman Phil Reeker, adding that the Embassy was closed until Tuesday.

Secretary of State Colin Powell informed Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf of the decision to scale down the staff by telephone from Monterrey, Mexico, where Powell was accompanying President Bush on a visit.

Reeker said the department was satisfied with Musharraf's security measures, but still thought it prudent to order the dependents and non-essential workers to leave. He said he did not know how many Americans were involved.

Pakistani security agencies have been exploring possible al Qaeda links to a wave of terrorist strikes, including a grenade attack on a church that killed two Americans and three other people, the government said Wednesday.

Security officials in Pakistan have said they plan a crackdown on religious extremists.

The attacks could possibly be a reaction to Pakistan's decision to join the international coalition against terrorism, Information Minister Nisar Memon said.

At the same time, Reeker announced the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia, would be closed at least until Monday for a review of its security arrangements.