Grenade found outside U.S. embassy

JAKARTA (JP): A grenade was found outside the United States Embassy in Central Jakarta by embassy security personnel on Tuesday night.

The grenade, which was found near a tree at around 10 p.m., did not explode.

Embassy personnel quickly alerted police and the National Police bomb squad shortly arrived at the scene, a press statement from the embassy said.

City police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman announced that the grenade was a dud.

He rejected speculation that there was a political motive behind the incident. "I think someone just played a bad joke."

However, Lt. Col. Suryono from the bomb squad said the grenade did contain a detonator but failed to explode after the pin was removed.

"We are now X-raying the grenade to determine the cause of this failure," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said based on his team's initial findings, the grenade was manufactured in England.

Meanwhile, an embassy spokesman said the embassy had not increased its security since the incident.

Last Friday, five grenades were found in an abandoned shipment at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. None of the grenades, however, contained detonators. (03)