Bomb threat at US embassy in Jakarta, no evacuation

JAKARTA, Mar 1: The US embassy in Jakarta received a bomb threat today relayed by police, an embassy spokesman said.

''A bomb threat was transmitted to us by the Indonesian traffic management control at about 1120 (0950 hrs IST),'' the spokesman said by telephone. He said it was the second such incident in recent days.

A Reuters photographer on the scene said that there was no sign of any evacuation of embassy personnel.

Last month, Indonesia's central bank complex in the capital was evacuated for several hours after a bomb threat sent by text message, but staff were later given the all-clear by police.

The spokesman said all such incidents were taken seriously, and he referred any further questions to Indonesian officials.

There have been several bomb attacks in Jakarta and other parts of the country in recent years, some of them the work of Islamic militants aiming at targets with Western ties. There have also been bomb threats that have proved to be hoaxes.

Reuters