Global Security Newswire

Packages loaded with a suspicious powder arrived at the embassies of Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States in Australia yesterday, setting off a security response in which police barricaded surrounding areas as the sites were partly evacuated, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Dec. 10, 2007).

The powder in the three packages was later determined to be harmless, said a spokesman for the Australian Federal Police.

Several such scares have taken place in Australia's capital in recent years, but police have not suggested a motive for the incidents (see GSN, July 19, 2005).

The Israeli Embassy reported the first suspicious package at 11:45 a.m., followed in short order by the British and U.S. embassies.

"It's not known what it was, but it's known that it wasn't dangerous," Israeli Embassy spokesman Dor Shapira told Israeli Radio.  "So we've returned to normal activity" (Associated Press/Google News, Jan. 3).