USNew York police are to visit novelty toy shops in their attempts to discover the origins of two small makeshift grenades that exploded early yesterday outside a building that houses the British consulate.
New York police commissioner Ray Kelly said the grenades appeared to be novelty second World War-style metal hand grenades that were packed with gunpowder or similar explosive.
Nobody was hurt in the explosion, which smashed a large window panel on the front of the building and ripped a one-foot hole in the reinforced concrete flower holder in which the two grenades were planted.
Police were examining videotape from security cameras that appeared to show a cyclist lighting and then throwing the grenades toward the building before fleeing the scene.
Police were also questioning a man found loitering in the area. UN and police sources said he was a Dutch man who worked for the UN arms inspection agency, but was not considered a suspect.
While Mr Kelly, mayor Michael Bloomberg and British consulate spokesman, Andy Pike, all said it was not certain that the consulate was the intended target, police are working on that assumption.
Mr Pike said the consulate was keeping an open mind, but said it did appear that the bombing was timed to coincide with the British general election.
"I guess we kind of assume that, but we don't know that for sure. There have been demonstrations against other people [ in the building] in the past," he said.
Forensic experts at the scene in mid-Manhattan said they had recovered fragments of the grenades and would be consulting with toy manufacturers.
Retired bomb disposal squad member, Dennis Small, telephoned a New York Fox news channel affiliate to correct a report which claimed that one of the grenades was the size of a pineapple.
Mr Small said that the devices would have looked somewhat like a pineapple because of their hard panelled surface but would be about the size of a lemon.
While security was tightened at the UN and nearby consulates, police say privately that the bombing was an amateurish attempt to gain publicity.
The British consulate has been the subject of demonstrations against both the Iraq war and British police in Northern Ireland.
The back of a public sign on the footpath outside the consulate is plastered with pro-Irish Republican bumper stickers.
Mr John McDonagh, a dissident Irish republican and host of the Radio Free Éireann show on a local radio, said that people should not jump to conclusions.
"There were two bombs planted in San Diego during the peace process and nobody ever got to the bottom of who was really responsible for that. People shouldn't assume anything with this one, because there are a lot of people upset about Iraq and other issues," he said.
At an open air press conference at the scene of the bombing, mayor Bloomberg said that police had not received any statement from a group claiming responsibility.
"At the moment there is nobody claiming credit for this, there were no calls made saying why the explosion [ happened] and who the target was," he said.
He added that it would not stop New Yorkers from enjoying their freedom and said US troops were in far greater danger overseas.
"We do no let anybody deter anyone from going around and enjoying the freedoms that our young men and women are fighting for around the world. They are in far more danger than any of us are, let's not forget that," he said.
Police cordoned off five blocks of 3rd Avenue and two blocks on both 2nd and Lexington Avenues, causing severe traffic disruption during rush hour yesterday morning.