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U.S. and Global Anthrax Scare
BEIJING, Oct 19 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - As an anthrax scare swept the world, some countries have started taking precautions against the new bio-terrorism threat.
China banned all mail packages containing white powders from entering or exiting the country in response to the ongoing global anthrax scare, state press said Friday, news agencies reported.
While many cases are thought to be the work of hoaxers or those with a variety of individual grudges, confirmed cases have only been found so far in the United States, Argentina and Kenya.
The Chinese postal ministry Friday issued an emergency order saying any packages or letters carrying white powder could not be sent or accepted, the
Beijing Youth Daily said, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"The emergency order demanded that international mail departments must place priority on inspections and that the discovery of any packages carrying white powder should be immediately reported to quarantine departments," it said.
It followed an announcement by the Chinese foreign ministry Thursday that two letters containing a suspect white powder had been discovered in the country, including one addressed to an employee of an American firm.
Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said then that the government attached "great importance" to the issue and that a disinfecting process and investigation was under way, AFP said.
"The health organizations are also investigating the suspect. There is no result at the moment," he said, refusing to name the American company or give any other details.
Although Sun's statements came at a foreign ministry briefing, news of the suspect letters was completely ignored by state-controlled press on Friday.
In Montreal, Canada, a 57-year-old man appeared in court Thursday to face charges he made death threats against Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Finance Minister Paul Martin, a police spokesman said.
Paul Couture was arrested late Tuesday at Montmagny, 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Quebec City, after post office workers found letters containing white powder, purportedly to imitate anthrax spores.
The powder turned out to be merely sodium bicarbonate mixed with salt, according to police spokesman Richard Gagne.
Couture told local television present at his arrest that the letters addressed to Chretien and Martin were intended to "make them think about Quebec."
Couture was demanded to appear at a second hearing November 8th.
With anxiety over bio-terror attacks running high, top U.S. officials called for calm and vowed to punish those sending anthrax-laced letters to media organizations and a top politician.
FBI Director Robert Mueller said his agency and the U.S. Postal Service posted a reward of up to one million dollars for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those who mailed the anthrax.
"The mailing of anthrax is a terrorist act. It is a terrorist act. And we are pursuing it as a terrorist act," he said.
Two more people fell victim to anthrax infection in the United States as the U.S. battle against bio-terror attacks spread to Kenya, where the first non-U.S. anthrax attack was reported.
An assistant to CBS News anchor Dan Rather tested positive for the skin version of the disease, as health officials said scared people demanding anthrax tests were flooding New York hospitals.
A postal worker in New Jersey also contracted skin anthrax, officials said, adding that another postal worker was still being tested.
The latest infection was the sixth confirmed case in the past few days in Florida, New York and Washington, while at least 32 people tested positive for exposure to the bacterium.
Another eight people were initially reported to have tested positive but their status was now unclear.
A senior U.S. law enforcement official said Thursday he believes the anthrax found in three areas - New York, Washington and Florida - came from the same source, reported CNN Friday.
"You gotta believe they're all from the same source," said the official, who asked not to be identified.
He based his belief in part on the physical characteristics of the anthrax - the fact in all three cases the anthrax particles were "finely ground," making them easier to travel in the air and be inhaled.
"It requires the knowledge of a microbiologist or a skilled scientist," one source said.
Investigators have determined the anthrax in each case occurred naturally and was not biologically engineered, according to sources.
"We have ruled out neither international terrorism nor domestic terrorism," said Attorney General John Ashcroft, adding that the acts might be a combination of both. "It may well be that we have opportunists in the United States or terrorists in the United States who are acting in ways that are unrelated."
The U.S. embassy in Tokyo on Thursday became the third U.S. diplomatic post to receive a letter containing an unknown substance, the State Department said. The consulate general in Osaka, Japan, and the U.S. embassy in Madrid, Spain, have also received suspicious letters.
Hundreds of anthrax hoaxes are straining what Mueller described Thursday as "an already overburdened enforcement system." Mueller said his agency has investigated 3,300 chemical or biological threats in the last 18 days. Of those cases, 2,500 involved anthrax threats.
The U.S. anthrax outbreak began after letters containing white powder were posted to the news media, government departments and private firms.
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