Anthrax Letter Found in Kenya

Guardian UK ^ | 10/18/2001

[Merovingian]

Anthrax Letter Found In Kenya

Thursday October 18, 2001 2:30 PM

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - White powder in a letter mailed from Atlanta to a Kenyan has tested positive for anthrax spores, the health minister said Thursday, apparently the first case of tainted mail outside the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Health Minister Sam Ongeri told a news conference that the unidentified recipient, a doctor who lives in Nairobi, and four family members ``may have come into contact'' with the spores and were being tested, but they are ``not in danger.'' The powder was undergoing further tests at a government lab, he said.

It was unclear whether U.S. investigators had asked to be involved in the Kenyan cases, though Ongeri said his department was ``perfectly capable'' of handling the situation itself.

White powder was found in two other letters - one to an official with the U.N. Environment Program in Nairobi and the other to a Kenyan businessman in the central town of Nyeri, Ongeri said. Those letters were also being tested at the state-run Kenya Medical Research Institute, he said.

The letter that tested positive for anthrax had been mailed Sept. 8 from Atlanta, Ongeri said, and was received in Kenya on Oct. 9. It was opened on Oct. 11.

The hand-addressed letter to the U.N. official was mailed from Pakistan, and the letter to the businessman appeared to have been mailed from Nairobi, he said.

UNEP spokesman Nick Nuttall said the letter from Pakistan had seemed suspicious.

``It was a very sort of dirty looking envelope with rather eccentric writing on it. It just looked dirty, odd and suspicious. We get thousands of letters and some do look a bit odd,'' Nuttall said.

[Merovingian]

First Reported Case Outside of US

[shezza]

Interesting that these were sent (or at least one of them was) prior to Sept. 11. The notion that these anthrax attacks are the work of a disgruntled American "Unabomber" or white supremecist group in Idaho or some such wacky group grows increasingly unlikely. Since Saddam purchased his vials from the U.S. back in the 80s, even a trace to the strain's origin pinpointing a lab in the U.S. is irrelevant. I say it's the terrorists at work both there AND here.

[Merovingian]

Now BBC in Belfast:

BBC staff evacuated in anthrax scare: A number of BBC staff in Belfast have been evacuated from their Ormeau Avenue building amid an anthrax scare.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

White powder in a letter mailed from Atlanta to a Kenyan has tested positive for anthrax spores, the health minister said Thursday, apparently the first case of tainted mail outside the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Which must mean close to a 100% probability that CNN has already been hit -- they just don't know it yet.

[Merovingian]

Hmmm....not impossible. I think it would have been better if it had NOT come from Atlanta, if you know what I mean. Wonder what the Arab concentration is in Atlanta......

[RasterMaster]

"which must mean close to a 100% probability that CNN has already been hit -- they just don't know it yet."

I'll bet they are mailing the letters! After all, they are the only "news" network which outwardly expresses dislike for America. I'd also be checking the Clintoons luggage thoroughly.