THE HAGUE, Nov 5 (AFP) - The Dutch police said late Friday nothing suspicious was found near the United States embassy and its surroundings after a bomb threat was called in earlier in the evening.
Nothing suspicious was found around the embassy and the roadblocks erected in the vicinity of the building were removed, a police spokesman told NOS public television.
"The investigation is still ongoing but the roadblocks were removed," Frans van Rijnswou of the The Hague police told NOS.
He would not give any details about the threat, other than to say that no arrests had been made in the case.
Police evacuated the US embassy and its surroundings around 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) after receiving a bomb threat. For several hours roadblocks were also erected on the major highways leading into The Hague.
NOS television cited anonymous police sources that said the police had received a warning that a car filled with explosives was heading for the US embassy in The Hague. After the brutal murder of controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a suspected Islamic extremist on Tuesday, the Dutch authorities are on high alert for possible attacks by Muslim radicals.
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks the US embassy has received various bomb threats, which all turned out to be hoaxes.
Security around the bunker-like building has been stepped up and people are kept away by crush barriers surrounding the embassy -- as around most US government facilities in the world following the attacks in New York and Washington.
11/05/2004 23:21 GMT - AFP