The US shut its embassy in Indonesia on Wednesday after receiving ''credible threats'' against the compound in central Jakarta, an embassy official said. The official declined to divulge the nature of the threats, but said that the embassy would be closed to public business for the rest of the week. ''We received reliable information of threats to the embassy and have closed it to the public for the remainder of the week,'' the official said. The consular affairs and visa section were shut down, but others areas off-limits to the public remained open. The embassy will decide during the weekend whether to re-open those areas on Monday. The closure followed a US world-wide alert about possible terrorist attacks on American interests following an outbreak of violence in the Middle East and the bombing of a US naval vessel in Yemen on October 12 that killed 17 people. At least one radical Indonesian Moslem group, the Islamic defenders front, has threatened to kill Americans and Israelis in Indonesia. Anti-US sentiment has been running high in Indonesia following clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian protestors in Gaza and the West Bank. In addition, some Indonesian politicians, including Defence Minister Mahfud Mohammad, have further escalated tensions by accusing the US of interfering in its internal affairs and claiming a US tourist was a spy in the restive province of Irian Jaya. Mahfud claimed on Monday that he had been given approval to explore a defence pact between Indonesia, India and China to counter US influence in Asia, but quickly back-tracked after a senior cabinet minister rejected such a move. Bureau Report