"Bomb" was Egyptian tobacco, laptop
The suspicious package discovered by police that forced an Amsterdam neighborhood into lockdown turned out to be boxes of Egyptian tobacco and a laptop computer, the bomb disposal unit told broadcaster AT5. The tobacco packages were adorned with Arabic text, police said.
The items were found in a car during a traffic stop on Lijnbaansgracht near Leidseplein. Police called in the bomb squad just before 3:30 a.m., and evacuated eight area apartments and cleared the street soon after.
A 40-year-old man from Amsterdam and a 23-year-old man from Rijsenhout were arrested. Police first stopped the men and questioned them for theft.
Police have apologized to the two men and released them.
With U.S. President Barack Obama in Amsterdam with Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and the Amsterdam visits of several foreign heads-of-state before the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, the Netherlands has been taking extreme security precautions countrywide.
Nachtje #Amsterdam #explosieven in #waterpijpcafé en op de #Lijnbaansgracht #dode na schietpartij #Nieuwlandhof (2/3) pic.twitter.com/uZxlmzcnyV
— Olim Bajmat (@Olim_B) March 24, 2014
