Global Security Newswire

Envelopes containing an apparently harmless white powder have arrived at eight U.S. embassies throughout Europe as well as additional governors' offices in the United States, the FBI said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 15).

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said that powder-filled envelopes have now arrived the offices of more than 40 governors. Each included a letter with unspecified content, the Associated Press reported.

"The FBI has contacted the governors' offices and State Department to be on the lookout for additional letters," Kolko said.

Powder mailings have turned up at U.S. embassies in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Romania and Switzerland, according to State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid, (Associated Press/Google News, Dec. 16).

Meanwhile, a Slovenian lawmaker received a suspicious white powder letter yesterday, forcing the evacuation of offices in the country's parliament building, Agence France-Presse reported.

The parliament's press office said that three offices were closed off after the envelope arrived at the office of Branko Grims, a member of the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party.

Authorities have taken all needed actions in response to the incident, according to a press office statement. Results from laboratory testing of the material were set to be issued today (Agence France-Presse/Morningstar, Dec. 16).