- Fears of new anthrax attacks in the United States have
increased after scientists found that the deadly spores sent in letters
last year had been freshly made by someone with access to high-tech government
laboratories.
Radiocarbon dating has proved that the anthrax sent in the mail to two
senators and two prominent journalists was made and milled into a fine
powder within the past two years. "It (the anthrax) is modern. It
was grown and therefore can be grown again," a government official
said.
The dating test scotches the theory that a batch of anthrax made in 1981
had been stolen from a laboratory or obtained on the black market. It strengthens
the view that someone with a scientific background and access to microbiological
laboratory equipmentsent the anthrax or provided it to someone else to
carry out the attacks which killed five Americans last year.
The findings mean the FBI can stand by its original sociological profile
of the type of man it thinks carried out the attacks. Investigators said
they are looking for a male loner with a grudge against society and authority.
The perpetrator, who would have a scientific background which may include
familiarity with anthrax, also lives in or is familiar with the Trenton
area of New Jersey, where all of the spore-laced letters were postmarked.
It is thought unlikely the letters were sent by al-Qaeda.
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- In addition to fear of another mail attack, experts suggest
that the tiny airborne spores could be introduced into air-conditioning
systems in apartment blocks or shopping malls, and at government buildings
such as the White House or the Capitol. Such an attack would not only kill
thousands of people but create mass panic across America.
Robert Mueller, the FBI Director, will meet scientists who studied the
anthrax this week before making a public announcement.
The spores were taken from the letter sent on October 9 last year to Senator
Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont. Other contaminated letters were
sent to Tom Daschle, the Senate minority leader, who is a Democrat, to
Tom Brocaw, the news anchorman, and the Editor of the New York Post. The
letter sent to Senator Leahy was the only one to contain enough anthrax,
about one gram in total, to conduct thorough tests.
Mr Mueller is expected to reveal that the investigation into the anthrax
attacks has consumed millions of dollars and is second in magnitude only
to the investigations into the September 11 hijackings. A reward of $2.5
million (£1.8 million) has been offered for information leading to
an arrest.
The scientists found that the anthrax was a domestic variety, the Ames
strain. One laboratory in Britain and four in the US hold spores with perfect
genetic matches to those in the letters, all of which can trace their samples
to the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease at Fort
Detrick, Maryland. The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton
Down, Wiltshire, the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, Louisiana State University
and Northern Arizona University all helped with the investigation into
the attacks.
The lack of success in finding the culprit has led to greater security
at biological facilities. But smuggling material out of the laboratories
is considered easy because about 250,000 anthrax micro-organisms could
fit in the full stop ending this sentence.
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- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-336465,00.html
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