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US scientists search for clues in latest anthrax letter

US scientists yesterday conducted further tests on the latest anthrax-laced letter, hoping that the missive would yield vital clues in the stymied bioterrorism investigation.

Officials placed the unopened letter -- mailed to US Senator Patrick Leahy -- in an airtight bag and delivered it to a US Army medical research lab in Fort Detrick, Maryland outside the US capital, where scientists tested it for anthrax spores.

FBI officials said initial tests suggested that the correspondence contained the deadly microbes, but said final results would not be available until later this week.

US authorities on Saturday urged anyone with information about string of germ attacks to contact police immediately.

"Come forward if you know anything; come forward before any more innocent people die," Leahy said.

Van Harp, assistant director of the Washington FBI office, said that his agency believes that there is "someone out in the country somewhere that may have information ... [that] may be aware of what this person is doing, may have a little piece of information that would help complete the puzzle for us.

"This is a cold-blooded murderer," Harp said, pointing out there was a US$1.25 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the person behind the anthrax-by-mail attacks that killed four people since early October.

Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the letter found on Friday could help further investigations. "I am hoping that the one bright light in all of this is that the letter will give us further evidence to show us who is doing this," he said.

Speaking outside of Congress, Leahy joined other officials in saying it appeared somebody in the US was behind the mailings.

With little information to go on, FBI agents last week portrayed the person behind the anthrax attacks as a US-based loner with a scientific background.

The FBI said the handwriting and the postmark on the envelope addressed to Leahy were similar to those on letters mailed to Senate Leader Tom Daschle, NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, and to the New York Post.

The latest letter was found among some 250 barrels of unopened mail that had been sequestered when the congressional postal service shut down in mid-October.

After authorities found anthrax in Daschle's offices last month, the congressional mail delivery service was closed down and all unopened mail was sent back to the Brentwood facility to be analyzed.
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