Suicide attack on Pakistani police kills 22

By Mubasher Bukhari

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomb attack killed at least 22 people, most of them policemen, in Pakistan on Thursday, deepening a sense of insecurity weeks before elections that could weaken President Pervez Musharraf's grip on power.

The suicide bomber walked up to policemen outside the High Court in the eastern city of Lahore, who had gathered outside the court ahead of a protest rally by lawyers, and blew himself up.

All but two of the 22 dead were policemen, said a doctor at the city's main hospital. About 60 people were wounded.

Police constable Jameel Ahmed said the attacker was a man aged about 25 who had arrived outside the court on a motorbike.

"He parked his bike and walked to the police and blew himself up," Ahmed said.

Pakistan has seen a wave of bomb attacks in recent months, many of them suicide attacks on members of the security forces, but there had been none in Lahore, capital of Punjab province.

Hundreds of people have been killed in attacks including opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack as she left an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi on December 27.

More than 20 bystanders were killed in that attack, which led to the postponement of a January 8 general election meant to complete a transition to civilian rule in the nuclear-armed U.S. ally.