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10-08-2004, 01:13 PM
PARIS, France (CNN) -- A bomb that exploded outside the Indonesian Embassy in Paris has wounded 10 people, according to French police.
The explosive device was placed directly under the Indonesian flag, according to French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin.
De Villepin, who spoke to reporters near the blast site, called the bombing a criminal act and said it left a sizable crater.
He said he was aware of no specific threats against the embassy.
The explosion shattered windows in the upscale neighborhood across the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower early Friday and police have cordoned off the blast site, according to French media reports.
Radio station Europe-1 quoted firefighters as saying the explosion took place on the embassy's ground floor.
Rescue workers led several people from the scene, which was crowded with fire trucks and ambulances.
Indonesia is preparing to inaugurate a new leader, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, after President Megawati Sukarnoputri was defeated in an election last month.
Yudhoyono, a former general, won a landslide victory in the September 20 polls and is due to be inaugurated on October 20.
It was the first time the world's most populous Muslim nation had directly voted for their president.
The ballot was praised as a key step in the country's transition to democracy after the downfall of ex-dictator Suharto in 1998.
Yudhoyono called Friday's blast a terrorist act, Reuters news agency reported.
"I strongly condemn the terrorist act done at the Indonesian embassy in Paris. I do hope the government of France will take appropriate action to bring the perpetrator to justice," he told reporters.
"And I do hope also President Megawati, who is still in power now, (will) conduct appropriate action and good cooperation with the government of France," Reuters quoted him as saying.
The explosive device was placed directly under the Indonesian flag, according to French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin.
De Villepin, who spoke to reporters near the blast site, called the bombing a criminal act and said it left a sizable crater.
He said he was aware of no specific threats against the embassy.
The explosion shattered windows in the upscale neighborhood across the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower early Friday and police have cordoned off the blast site, according to French media reports.
Radio station Europe-1 quoted firefighters as saying the explosion took place on the embassy's ground floor.
Rescue workers led several people from the scene, which was crowded with fire trucks and ambulances.
Indonesia is preparing to inaugurate a new leader, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, after President Megawati Sukarnoputri was defeated in an election last month.
Yudhoyono, a former general, won a landslide victory in the September 20 polls and is due to be inaugurated on October 20.
It was the first time the world's most populous Muslim nation had directly voted for their president.
The ballot was praised as a key step in the country's transition to democracy after the downfall of ex-dictator Suharto in 1998.
Yudhoyono called Friday's blast a terrorist act, Reuters news agency reported.
"I strongly condemn the terrorist act done at the Indonesian embassy in Paris. I do hope the government of France will take appropriate action to bring the perpetrator to justice," he told reporters.
"And I do hope also President Megawati, who is still in power now, (will) conduct appropriate action and good cooperation with the government of France," Reuters quoted him as saying.