The United States has condemned the attack at its Information Center in Kathmandu on Friday saying that this kind of act had no political or other justification. The explosion caused minor damages but nobody was injured.

“Nepalese security forces are now investigating. We are unaware, at this point, of anybody accepting the blame for the incident,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Friday.

Boucher said the US embassy was working closely with government authorities to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

“The Nepal travel warning that we issued on July 21st did update the information from previous warnings. We will continue to review information pertaining to the safety and security of American citizens and then make decisions, as appropriate, on Consular Information Sheets or Travel Warnings. We’ll see if there is any change necessary in those,” Boucher said.

Responding to a question whether Maoist guerrillas were responsible for the attack, Boucher said: “I don’t know that there is a conclusion at this point. We’ll wait and see what the investigation produces.”

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the explosion. Police in Nepal suspect the Maoist rebels to be responsible for the incident.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba called US ambassador in Kathmandu, James F Moriarty, from New Delhi and condemned the incident. He also assured of adequate security arrangements to US citizens and offices in Nepal, reports said.

Premier Deuba is to return to Kathmandu Sunday afternoon. nepalnews.com by Sep 12 04