Vaudine England, Jakarta – Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab yesterday played down death threats delivered to the US Ambassador to Indonesia, Robert Gelbard, the latest in a series of spats between the two countries.

"He [Mr Gelbard] told me there had been bomb threats against the embassy," Mr Shihab said. "He also said he had received death threats. Everybody can make phone calls and it should not be taken seriously. It is as if the relations between the two countries were being disturbed ... Don't let minor problems turn into big ones."

Public services at the US Embassy have been suspended in a partial closure of the compound due to credible threats against it and the specific death threats against Mr Gelbard.

Mulsim groups stage daily demonstrations as a result of perceived US support for Israel, and relations have soured over deteriorating exchanges between Defence Minister Mahfud Mahmoddin and Mr Gelbard.

The ambassador is a feisty straight-talker in a country where obtuse expressions are preferred. His personal style has further fuelled a populist anti-Western campaign mounted by politicians such as People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais.

Talk of Western or Zionist conspiracies has increased in the year since foreign-troop intervention saved East Timor's transition towards independence. Mr Rais recently blamed such conspiracies for most of Indonesia's problems in Aceh, the Malukus, Irian Jaya, East Timor and more.

Mr Mahfud first alleged that Mr Gelbard tried to influence recent military and cabinet reshuffles, and then accused foreign spies of provoking the murders of three foreign UNHCR workers in West Timor on September 6. American support for a recent United Nations resolution castigating Indonesia for the killings also provoked criticism, while the US was seen as hesitant to act over the deaths of more than 100 Palestinians.

Then an American tourist was picked up by police in Wamena, Irian Jaya, for showing photographs of the killings there of Papuan separatists and more than 30 others on October 6. Mr Mahfud claimed that by showing the pictures around, Aaron Ward Maness, of West Valley City, Utah, was trying to whip up support for another foreign intervention in Indonesia's domestic affairs and must be a spy. Mr Gelbard has bluntly denied that claim, and also denied intervening in the deportation of Mr Maness.

Djoko Susilo, a spokesman for the Reform Faction – a coalition of Muslim-based parties in Parliament – said Mr Gelbard had worn out his welcome in Indonesia and should be removed.

The US has issued a worldwide travel alert to US citizens to step up security ahead of possible anti-American demonstrations and terrorist attacks amid the tensions in the Middle East.