Blast at Indonesian Embassy in Paris

At least nine people were injured when the bomb exploded underneath an Indonesian flag, which was planted in front of the building. No one was seriously hurt, although most were taken to the hospital after the blast.

The majority of those hurt, including four embassy staffers, were hit by flying glass.

'Criminal intent'

The blast was "obviously an act with criminal intent," French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin told the Agence France Presse news agency, as he visited the scene along with the head of Paris police.

Local residents said many windows in neighboring buildings were broken, and several nearby cars damaged.

Indonesia's president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned the attack saying: "I'm saddened by and condemn the act of violence against our embassy in France. We call on the French government to uphold law and provide further protection for our citizens in France."

Yudhoyono, who is to be sworn in later this month, urged the government of outgoing President Megawati Sukarnoputri to work closely with France to investigate the explosion.

Attacks in Egypt

Police cordoned off the area around the embassy building after the blast which came just hours after three attacks on the Egyptian Sinai peninsula left at least 19 dead and 38 missing, many of them Israeli tourists.

Villepin said no group had so far claimed responsibility for the explosion, adding he was to hold talks later in the day at the ministry to examine the dangers facing France at the moment.

Indonesia, which has in past months found itself the target of extremist attacks, on Friday urged its missions abroad to be on heightened alert.

In August 2003 a suicide bomber killed 12 people in an attack on the US-franchised Marriott hotel in Jakarta. The attack was blamed on the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group. The group is also believed to have been behind the September 2003 truck bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta which killed nine people, and is also suspected of involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 2002.

"The foreign ministry has called on all Indonesian embassies around the world to be on alert and vigilant," foreign ministry spokesman Yuri Thamrin said in Jakarta.

Chirac condemnation

Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac expressed his "sadness and consternation" over the series of bombings in Egypt's Sinai peninsula.

"France, like the entire international community, condemns these barbaric acts of terrorism and joins in the mourning of the Israeli people," he said in a letter to Israeli President Ariel Sharon.

Chirac made his comments from the summit of Asian and European leaders, which he was attending in Vietnam on Friday. In a separate letter to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Chirac condemned "these terrorist acts which once again have claimed innocent victims."

Three suspected car bombs ripped through beach resorts packed with Israeli tourists on the Red Sea coast of Egypt's Sinai desert late Thursday. The attack was claimed Friday by a group calling itself "Islamic Unity Brigades." Israel has blamed Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terror network.