Originally Posted by Hogisbald

A man claiming to have a bomb walked into Hillary Clinton's campaign offices and took hostages, US police and witnesses said.

The man had what appeared to be a bomb strapped to himself, said Bill Shaheen, a top state campaign official. He took two hostages, both volunteers, and released others, Mr Shaheen said.

Witness Lettie Tzizik told a television station that she spoke to a woman shortly after she was released from the New Hampshire office by the suspect. The woman was carrying a child, and crying. "She said, 'You need to call 911. A man has just walked into the Clinton office, opened his coat and showed us a bomb strapped to his chest with duct tape'," Ms Tzizik said.

Mrs Clinton was not in New Hampshire on Friday. The state is a key early indicator for the presidential aspirants in 2008, holding the first party primaries.


She was scheduled to give an address at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) meeting in Vienna, Virginia, on Friday afternoon, but DNC Chairman Howard Dean announced from the podium that Mrs Clinton would not speak.

Authorities were sending a tactical bomb unit to assist local police, and the area was evacuated, said Major Michael Hambrook of New Hampshire State Police. A nearby school also was in lockdown.

The Clinton office is located in the downtown area in a strip of several storefronts.

Workers for Senator Barack Obama's campaign office in Rochester were also evacuated, a campaign spokesman said.

Staff in John Edwards' office, a few buildings away, were evacuated as well.