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ISLAMABAD, March 19 (Reuters) - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf removed the capital's two most senior police officers on Tuesday after a weekend grenade attack on a church killed five people, the government said.

No one has claimed responsibility for Sunday's rampage but the spotlight has fallen on hardline Islamic groups opposed to Musharraf's support for the U.S.-led war on terror and his clampdown on Muslim militants.

A U.S. diplomat's wife and daughter were among the victims, as well as a Pakistani and an Afghan.

Musharraf expressed "dismay" on Monday at the security lapse that allowed a man laden with grenades to walk into a church in Islamabad's diplomatic enclave where dozens of foreign diplomats and aid workers were worshipping.

He summoned senior government and security officials on Tuesday to review law and order after the attack.

"The participants took a serious note of the recent lapse in security and decided to remove forthwith the Islamabad police officials," the government said in a statement via the official APP state news agency.

"The prevailing law and order environment cannot be allowed to continue," the statement quoted Musharraf as saying. "Hard decisions have to be taken."

Officials earlier told Reuters the capital's inspector general and senior superintendent of police were among those relieved of their posts.

The church attack followed the kidnapping and murder of U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl, who was abducted in the volatile southern port city of Karachi on January 23.

ABJECT FAILURE

The violence in one of Pakistan's most protected areas threatens to scare off much-needed foreign investment and commentators said it has damaged Musharraf's credibility as an effective partner in the anti-terror campaign.

In a statement, representatives of the tiny Christian community condemned "the brutal and barbaric terrorism at the place of holy worship" and blamed the authorities for "carelessness, negligence and irresponsibility".

They declared March 24 a day of mourning and fasting.

Suspicion is growing that the fifth body -- blown to pieces and as yet unidentified -- may have been the grenade-lobbing assailant.

"There's nobody who has said 'My husband was at church and he didn't come home'," a U.S. diplomat told Reuters.

"The fact that nobody has come forward saying somebody is missing is one of the reasons leading some people to wonder if the body might be that of the attacker."

Forty-two people from various nations were wounded in the attack but hospital officials said all were in stable condition and out of danger on Tuesday.

The toll of dead and wounded could have been much worse. Children had been sent to the basement of the church to attend Sunday school just before the attack.

The Dawn newspaper said the "abject failure" of security agencies to counter militant threats called into question the sincerity of Musharraf's clampdown on terror.

"The time has come for the president to adopt an unequivocal stand on this issue," it said in an editorial, urging Musharraf not to go soft on militants.

"He should not be seen to be running with the hare and hunting with the hounds."

CAUTION AND SECURITY

Pakistan's leader spoke briefly to U.S. President George W. Bush by phone on Monday, with both pledging to work together to find those behind the church attack.

Cooperation between the two nations increased markedly after the September 11 attacks on the United States, when Washington needed Pakistani help to launch its offensive on Taliban and al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Christina Rocca flew to Pakistan from India on Monday, saying she would accompany the bodies of the American victims home.

Rocca and visiting U.S. General Tommy Franks met Musharraf earlier on Tuesday.

After the church attack, the U.S. State Department renewed a worldwide caution, saying the incident showed "terrorists" might be seeking softer American targets.

It said eligible dependants of U.S. embassy personnel in Islamabad and consulates in Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi had been authorised to leave Pakistan voluntarily.

A U.S. diplomat in Islamabad said on Tuesday it was too early to say whether anyone was leaving, but added the embassy was unlikely to release details of any departures to avoid giving information to "the bad guys".

"Security has been consistently pretty high since the September 11 attacks but we are taking additional security precautions," the diplomat said.

The 60 or 70 people in the Protestant International Church were listening to a sermon when the Sunday calm was shattered by an explosion at the back of the hall.

Worshippers dived for cover as blasts ripped through the church, splattering the walls and ceiling with blood.

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