The blast came less than 48 hours before Bush was due to hold talks in Pakistan on Saturday, though he is not expected to visit the southern city of Karachi during his short visit.

The American, identified by Pakistan officials as David Foy, was killed along with his driver and a Pakistani paramilitary trooper in the attack.

A fourth body has not been identified, but police suspect it to be that of a suicide bomber. Police had earlier said five people were killed in the attack.

Addressing a news conference in New Delhi just hours after the blasts, Bush said he wouldn't change his plan to go to Pakistan at the end of his three-day visit to India. This is Bush's first visit to south Asia.

"I've been briefed on the bombings. We have lost at least one US citizen in the bombing, a foreign service officer," Bush told reporters in the Indian capital.

"Terrorists and killers are not going to prevent me from going to Pakistan."

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led war on terrorism, condemned the attack.

"This senseless act will not deter our strong resolve to pursue the relentless fight against the evil of terrorism. We all must continue to work together to eliminate this threat," he said.

A US counterterrorism official said it was too early to say who might have been responsible for the attack, but said it was not surprising that U.S. interests had been targeted.

"US intelligence had assessed that even though there was not information pointing to a current plot against US interests in Pakistan, that there were a number of extremist groups that continued to pose a significant threat," the official told reporters in Washing-ton.

"The assessment made clear that attacks against US interests in Pakistan had occurred without warning in the past."

CONSULATE CAR SEEN RAMMED
Footage recorded by security cameras installed at the consulate showed a bearded man of medium height and wearing a traditional shalwar-kameez tunic, parking his car near the site of the attack.

"When he saw the US consulate car approaching, he rushed back to his car, and tried to ram it into the US vehicle," a senior government official said.

A paramilitary vehicle stationed nearby tried to intercept him. "But unfortunately, the suicide bomber managed to hit the US consulate vehicle," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.