Parcel closes Indonesia embassy in Australia

CANBERRA - A suspicious packet was sent to the Indonesian embassy in Australia on Tuesday and the mission was shut down for the second time in a week, police said.

Besides the two scares at the embassy, Australia's national parliament also received a suspicious packet by mail on Friday.

The incidents come as a public backlash rages against the conviction of Australian woman Schapelle Corby on drugs charges in Bali. Security at the Indonesian embassy had been stepped up in recent weeks after staff received threats over the drugs case.

Police said they received a telephone call about the latest packet at 9.48am (11.48am NZT). Emergency services were at the scene a short time later and closed off the street where the Indonesian embassy is located, which backs onto the US embassy in the national capital Canberra.

"We had a report of a suspicious package," an Australian Federal Police spokeswoman told Reuters.

One emergency services worker in a protective suit later went through a decontamination shower in the Indonesian embassy yard.

An embassy worker said the mission received the packet on Tuesday morning, but new procedures meant the security scare was contained to a small area and had not affected all staff.

"The embassy received another letter, and the area has been contained. They are doing preliminary testing on that," the worker, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters.

"The staff are still inside. They're doing their normal day's work. They're still high spirited."

The Indonesian embassy was shut down last week and its 46 staff quarantined for 12 hours after it received a package containing a white powder and a note written in the Bahasa language.

A similar packet addressed to Australia's foreign minister on Friday forced the parliament house to close its mail room.

Police later said both packages contained harmless powder.

Three Indonesian police officers have arrived in Australia to help a joint investigation into last week's embassy incident.

Australian beauty therapist Schapelle Corby was sentenced last month to 20 years in jail for smuggling marijuana into the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

The conviction and sentencing sparked an anti-Indonesian reaction in Australia where many people believe Corby's claim that the drugs were planted in her bag.

A poll published in The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Tuesday found 51 per cent of Australians believed Corby's trial was unfair and 47 per cent believed she was not guilty. Only 17 per cent believed Corby was guilty while 36 per cent were unsure.

- REUTERS