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Apr 11, 6:53 AM EDT
Report: 2001 Anthrax Attacks Made Simply
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Army scientists have reproduced the deadly
anthrax powder mailed in letters two years ago and concluded that
it was made using simple methods, inexpensive equipment and limited
expertise, according to a report published Friday.
The (Baltimore) Sun, citing sources it did not identify, said the
scientists have concluded that the powder could have cost only a
few thousand dollars to create.
The findings reinforce the FBI theory that the mailed anthrax was
probably produced by renegade scientists and not by a national
military program.
But the research, carried out at the Army's biodefense center at
Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, also raises the possibility that
al-Qaida and other terrorist groups could create lethal bioweapons
without scientific or financial help from a state.
Van Harp, assistant FBI director in charge of the Washington Field
Office, who oversees the anthrax investigation, declined to comment
to the newspaper on what he called "uninformed speculation."
Anthrax-laced letters were mailed on Sept. 18 and Oct. 9, 2001, and
addressed to media organizations and two U.S. senators. The attack
killed five people and sickened at least 17 others. Hundreds of
millions of dollars have been spent to clean up government offices
and postal facilities.
FBI and Postal Inspection Service agents initially considered a
link to the Sept. 11 hijackers or Iraq. But after genetic analysis
showed the anthrax was derived from a strain used in the U.S.
military biodefense program, investigators concentrated their
effort on a domestic source.
Since last summer, agents have focused much of their attention on
Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, a former bioweapons expert. Hatfill, 49, a
lecturer and consultant on bioterrorism, has adamantly denied any
connection to the anthrax letters.