Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- A bomb exploded outside the Indonesian Embassy in Paris at 5 a.m., injuring 10 people, a Paris police spokesman said.

``There are broken windows at the embassy and neighboring buildings,'' Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said by telephone. ``There is no indication yet that the blast was aimed at the Indonesian Embassy.''

The bomb was placed outside the embassy, on the street corner directly under the Indonesian flag, the police spokesman, who asked not to be identified, said. Basement and street-level windows of the four-story building were shattered.

Indonesia is battling Jemaah Islamiyah, a group it alleges has links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network which it blames for at least three attacks in two years that have killed more than 220 people.

The Paris embassy, which has 22 staff, wasn't open at the time of the blast. Among the injured are three Indonesians, who are family members of an embassy security officer, Natalegawa said. The embassy, on Rue Cortambert in the 16th arrondissement of the French capital, normally opens at 9 a.m.

The attack ``was obviously an act with criminal intent,'' French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin told reporters at the scene of the explosion.

Yudhoyono Reaction

Indonesia's president-elect, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said in Jakarta that he was ``saddened by and condemn the act of violence against our embassy in France,'' Agence France-Presse reported. He asked the French government to ``provide further protection for our citizens,'' AFP said.

``We do not want such bomb blasts to worsen Indonesia's image in the international forum,'' said Hidayat Nurwahid, the newly appointed chairman of Indonesia's parliament, the People's Consultative Assembly, and head of a Muslim political party. ``We don't want people to link the bomb blast with Islam and Muslim people around the world.''

The most recent attack inside Indonesia was a Sept. 9 car bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, which killed nine people.

``I think the impact will be limited until we get more clarification,'' said Winston Sual, who helps manage the equivalent of $1.2 billion in Indonesian assets including stocks at Panin Asset Management in Jakarta. ``There's no clear motive why they target'' the embassy in Paris.

The Indonesian rupiah pared earlier gains, and traded at 9,088 a dollar at noon Jakarta time.

``The rupiah will go lower,'' said Benjamin Widjaja, a currency trader in Jakarta at PT Bank Mizuho Indonesia, a unit of Japan's biggest bank.

``The market is surprised by this because there usually isn't any problem in overseas Indonesian embassies.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Claire Leow in Jakarta at cleow@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 8, 2004 03:49 EDT