DALTON - FBI agents searched a north Georgia home for clues to the weekend Olympic bombing, a local sheriff said yesterday. But the search revealed nothing connecting the blast to the occupant of the house, said Whiffield County Sheriff, Mr Scott Chitwood.

The man was identified by a local newspaper, the Daily Citizen News of Dalton, as Mr Terry Roper (41) of Rocky Face, Georgia.

Mr Roper told the newspaper that federal investigators with bomb sniffing dogs had searched his house, yard and vehicles on Saturday afternoon. The agents then left, telling him they would be in touch.

Sheriff Chitwood said the man had consented to a search of his property and added. "He is no longer considered a suspect."

Dalton, a carpet making centre, is located about 90 miles north west of Atlanta, near the Tennessee city of Chattanooga.