Bomb suspect just needed a visa

Tommy Keil, deputy criminal inspector with the Bellahøj Police, described Tuesday's bomb scare at the US embassy in Copenhagen as a tempest in a teapot.

'It was completely crazy. He was just a man with a few things in his pocket who needed a visa to the US,' Keil told daily newspaper Politiken.

Police arrested a 57-year old Danish man who set off the metal detectors upon entering the embassy under suspicion he was carrying a bomb.

A large area surrounding the US embassy in Copenhagen's Østerbro district was cordoned off Tuesday morning after the Copenhagen Police sounded a bomb alert. Traffic between Olso Square adjacent to Østerport station to the Trianglen intersection, approximately two city blocks from the embassy was restricted while police, ambulances and 'Rolling-Mary,' a robotic vehicle used to disarm suspected bombs, secured the areas.

Contrary to initial reports, the man's backpack did not contain a clock, batteries, wires and a compass.

'None of those things were bound together with gaffer tape either,' said Keil.

The man, who had been seeking a visa to visit the US later this fall, was found to have a pocket knife and compass in his pocket.

'The whole thing was blown out of proportion because of fears of terror acts. He was just an older man who needed a visa and perhaps hadn't thought about the contents of his pockets before trying to enter the embassy,' said Keil.

The embassy was reopened a few hours following the event.