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Anthrax: FBI Denies Report of Targeted Suspect The FBI yesterday denied reports that it had identified a lead suspect in the “Amerithrax” investigation into who is responsible for last fall’s anthrax attacks (see GSN, Feb. 25). “In our investigation we have interviewed hundreds of persons, in some instances more than once,” said FBI spokeswoman Tracey Silberling. “It is not accurate, however, to say the FBI has identified a prime suspect.” “The names and numbers are constantly changing,” said a law enforcement official. “People come up on the radar screen and they’re checked out and they go off the radar screen.” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said an article yesterday in the Washington Times that said the FBI had narrowed its investigation down to one suspect was “overreaching.” “Unfortunately, there are still several suspects,” Fleischer said (Scott Shane, Baltimore Sun, Feb. 26). The FBI has created a list of about 20 people who have the expertise, ability and motive to conduct the anthrax attacks, according to law enforcement officials. The list, culled from a larger list of about 35 to 40 scientists, was drafted from tips offered by scientists and from analyses of people who have the skills to create the dried anthrax used in the attacks, they said (Miller/Broad, New York Times, Feb. 26). FBI agents have conducted tests in the homes, offices and vehicles of about a dozen people as part of the Amerithrax investigation, according to officials close to the project. All of the people, however, were cleared of suspicion after the tests came back negative, they added. Agents obtained the consent of the people under investigation, which removed the need for search warrants, authorities said. Investigators used swabs to test for the presence of anthrax spores at homes throughout the country, sources close to the investigation said. Negative swab results do not completely rule people out of the investigation, they said. “It just knocks them aside for now and gives us a level of confidence” that the person was not involved, said an official. No individual has been on the FBI’s list of suspects for more than a month and there are still no definite suspects, said investigators. “It’s frustrating, because we don’t have a target yet,” said an official close to the case. “It’s not stalled … but there are no easy answers or instant gratification” (Eggen/Warrick, Washington Post, Feb. 26). At Least a Dozen States Weaponizing Anthrax There are at least a dozen countries trying to develop anthrax for use as a biological weapon, said a top U.S. Defense Department proliferation expert. Anthrax is an ideal pathogen to be weaponized, Lisa Bronson, deputy undersecretary of defense for technology security policy and proliferation, last week told a Pentagon press briefing. She said that while Russia is still a key source of biological weapons proliferation, it is not the only country involved. “I don’t think you can lay it all on the doorstep of the former Soviet republics,” Bronson said. “Countries like Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya (and) Syria have consciously over the last seven to 10 years gone ahead and been developing” biological weapons. Developing anthrax into a biological weapon is a more intensive process than just having the pathogen itself, Bronson said. “It’s about developing the infrastructure to go ahead and be able to grow the material rapidly, to be able to suitably dry it and then to be able to disseminate it,” she said. Much of the equipment used in the development of biological weapons also has legitimate civilian use, Bronson said. One example is that equipment used to make powdered milk can also dry out anthrax spores as part of the weaponization process. Pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry equipment can be used to grind dried anthrax into a fine powder, she said. The spread of dual-use equipment makes it much harder to accurately determine which countries are developing biological weapons, Bronson said. “Increasingly, our nonproliferation efforts have not resulted in preventing them from getting the capability,” she said (U.S. Defense Department release, Feb. 25).
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