WH Suspicious Package

AFP reports on that hubbub this afternoon:

WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (AFP) - A suspicious package on the sidewalk outside the White House led security to close off one of the entrances to the compound briefly on Friday, while US President George W. Bush campaigned in Ohio.

A reporter returning from a lunch break around 1: 35 pm (1735 GMT) was turned away from the usual media entrance by a US Secret Service agent who calmly explained: "We have a suspicious package on the sidewalk up there."

"At approximately 1: 40 pm today, there was an unattended package outside the North-West gate on the sidewalk. It was rendered safe by EOD, the explosives ordnance division, at 2:10," said Secret Service spokeswoman Lorie Lewis.

"It was a small camera bag," she told AFP by telephone. "Secret Service personnel identified contents of the package, which was not determined to pose a threat."