Pubdate: Sun, 11 Apr 2010 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2010 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: Marc Lacey Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Mexico Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Felipe+Calderon SMALL BOMB IS THROWN AT U.S. POST IN MEXICO MEXICO CITY - An explosive device hurled over a wall at the United States Consulate in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo on Friday night has renewed fears that Mexico's violent drug trafficking organizations may be focusing their wrath on the American government, which has backed President Felipe Calderon's antidrug offensive. American officials said Saturday that the consulate in Nuevo Laredo and a consular office in nearby Piedras Negras were to be closed indefinitely beginning Monday. The attack, which occurred around 11 p.m. Friday, shattered windows but injured no one, American officials said in a statement on the consulate's Web site. In Mexico City, federal prosecutors said in a statement on Saturday that they were reviewing video from security cameras at the consulate, along with other evidence from the scene. A federal official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told news services that the explosive appeared to have been homemade. The episode follows the shooting deaths last month of three people linked to the United States Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, a border city that has been wracked by drug-related violence recently. In 2008, suspected traffickers threw a grenade at a consulate in Monterrey. The device, which did not explode, was later traced to a drug gang. Because of threats against American interests in northern Mexico, the State Department last month allowed consular workers along the border to move their families to the United States from Mexico. The latest attack came at a delicate time as Michelle Obama, the first lady, is due to arrive in Mexico City on Tuesday in what the White House has billed as her first solo international trip of her husband's presidency. The Obama administration recently vowed to continue backing Mr. Calderon's efforts to crush Mexico's powerful drug cartels. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake