All clear after security alert at White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An unattended package left outside
the White House, the third of the day, prompted a security
alert Thursday but soon after was cleared as not hazardous, the
Secret Service said.

President George W. Bush had already left for Camp David,
the presidential retreat, when the package was discovered near
the north fence of the White House.

Reporters standing outside the White House press room were
told to get inside and pedestrian traffic on Pennsylvania
Avenue alongside the White House was restricted.

“It’s the third one of the day,” Tom Mazur, a Secret
Service spokesman, said.

The other two packages were found in Lafayette Park across
from the White House earlier in the day. “Both were cleared and
deemed not to be a hazard,” he said.

The third package was later also determined not to be a
hazard. “It’s all clear,” Mazur said.