Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in New Hampshire Friday evening and met privately with her campaign staffers who were held hostage Friday afternoon.

At a Portsmouth, N.H., hotel, Clinton also met privately with officials involved in the hostage standoff, reported Manchester, N.H., TV station WMUR.

Clinton was in Washington Friday and canceled all campaign appearances, as did her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Security around her was increased as a precaution.

Authorities arrested Leeland Eisenberg, 47, of Somersworth, N.H., shortly after 6 p.m. EST Friday, more than five hours after he allegedly walked into Clinton's Rochester, N.H., campaign office and opened his jacket, revealing what appeared to be a pipe bomb, officials said.

Clinton said she was in close communication with officials and with the families of the hostages throughout the day. She said she made it clear to officials from the start they were the professionals and that she and her campaign would help in any way they could.

"I made it very clear from the very first conversations that I had that I would take their direction," Clinton said. "They were the professionals. They were in charge of this situation."

Clinton said that she did not believe her campaign had any contact with Eisenberg before the hostage taking.

"He was someone who was not known to my campaign headquarters until he walked in today, and as far as I know we've had no contact with him," she said. "It appears that he was someone who was in need of help and sought attention in absolutely the wrong way."

Clinton praised her campaign workers for their courage.

"I am very proud of them. They showed extraordinary courage," she said. "They were calm and collected under enormous pressure. They obviously understood that they could be in grave danger, but they handled themselves in the situation extraordinarily well."

Clinton said the incident would not change her campaign schedule. She planned to travel to Iowa on Saturday.

Standoff Lasted 5 Hours

Eisenberg's arrest was seen on live television as he walked out of the office with his arms um in the air. Following the instructions of SWAT members, he kneeled on the ground and police placed handcuffs on him. Moments earlier, a young man believed to be the third and final hostage was released, WMUR reported.

The hostage-taker was ordered to untie something from his chest and drop it on the ground as he was arrested. A police robot later moved into the area and detonated the device. There was no immediate word whether it was an explosive.

The man let a woman with an infant go immediately and at least one other woman got out about two hours later.

Several police officers were positioned across the street from the office with guns drawn during the incident, reported WCVB.

Surrounding businesses were evacuated, the center of town was closed to the public, and the nearby St. Elizabeth Seaton School and Spalding High School were locked down. Students were later allowed to board buses and leave the school.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama also has an office in Rochester that was evacuated. Staff members in John Edwards' office, which is a few buildings away, were also evacuated.

Both campaigns said that their offices would be open on Saturday.

A volunteer who only gave his first name, Daniel, told WMUR that he called one of the campaign workers on her cell phone after hearing about the hostage taking. Daniel said that there were two women and one man in the office.

"She was very hysterical," he said. "The man said he wasn't going to hurt them, but he wanted to talk to Hillary Clinton."

Details Emerge On Suspect

Eisenberg was scheduled to appear in Strafford County Superior Court at 1:30 p.m. Friday with his wife for a domestic violence hearing, according to WMUR.

Divorce papers filed Tuesday indicate that Eisenberg had been charged with criminal mischief involving a domestic dispute and violating a protective order. In court papers, Warren said the divorce was a result of irreconcilable differences and complained that Eisenberg suffered from "severe alcohol and drug abuse, several verbal abuse and threats."

WMUR also reported that Eisenberg has also spent time in prison in Massachusetts. He was released from MCI Concord on March 16, 2005.

CNN later released a statement confirming that the man was Eisenberg and that he had been in contact with the network throughout the day. CNN immediately contacted law enforcement after the first call and then did not report the calls to avoid compromising the safety of the hostages.

A witness who spoke with the Eisenberg's stepson said that he asked family members where he could purchase road flares, reported Boston TV station WCVB. Some officials speculated that the man may have the flares strapped to his body.

The witness said the man told her that his stepfather's marriage was falling apart and that he had been drinking for the past 72 hours.

A friend of the family said that the man thought that there was a government conspiracy and that government officials were "coming after him," the station reported.

Eisenberg made local headlines in March when he held a news conference on the steps of City Hall to complain about a police policy of placing fliers in unlocked cars warning motorists to lock their doors.

"This is nothing more than a gimmick to get around the Constitution and go around in the middle of the night upon unsuspecting citizens in their own yard and search their vehicles," Eisenberg said.

Police, who said they trying to reduce thefts, changed the policy in response.