Friday October 12, 12:25 PM

Blast at KFC in Indonesian city, second bomb found at Australian office JAKARTA, Oct 12 (AFP) - A bomb exploded at a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in the Indonesian city of Makassar early Friday and a second explosive device was found at an Australian company office, police said.

The blast at the KFC fast-food outlet occurred at 2:30 am (1830 Thursday , damaging doors, windows, lights and sections of neighbouring shops, said police in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province. No one was injured.

At 6:00 am a second bomb was discovered on the steps of the office of the Australian MLC life insurance company.

"A cleaner found a suspicious looking parcel and threw it in the garbage then called police, who came and removed it. It contained a bomb made of batteries and a timer," adjunct police commissioner Mahir Hamid told AFP.

Both bombs were home-made, said Hamid.

No one has claimed responsibility but one man, a security guard at the shopping center where the KFC outlet is located, has been detained as a witness.

Hamid said it was too early to say whether the bombs were linked to the wave of hardline Muslim protests against the US-led military strikes on Afghanistan.

The KFC manager Andi Agung Kasim said his restaurant, one of five KFC outlets in Makassar, had not received any warnings or threats beforehand, Detik.com online news reported.

It was closed at the time of the blast and would remain shut indefinitely.

Local police commissioner Amin Saleh told Detik.com that Friday's blast was different to others in Makassar previously. Normally the perpetrators of terror attacks give warnings, Saleh said.

Makassar is one of several cities across Indonesia which have been the scene of angry demonstrations against the US attacks.

During a violent protest at Japan's consulate there on Tuesday the building was damaged with stones and staff were forced to lower the Japanese flag.

Protesters Thursday called on all Japanese to leave Makassar over Tokyo's logistical support for the US attacks, saying the consulate would otherwise be burnt down.

In the central Javanese city of Yogyakarta earlier this week, protesters sealed off a McDonald's and a Pizza Hut, deeming them symbols of American business.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001