Police in Pakistan on Wednesday revealed that a parcel containing deadly anthrax powder has been sent to the official residence of the country's prime minister. While it marks the first time criminals have used the biological agent in an attack on a government office, letters laced with anthrax spores were sent to a mass-market Urdu newspaper and to a computer company in Karachi soon after 9/11, at the same time as scares in the US."We have just received the lab reports confirming it was anthrax but we cannot say more than that at the moment," said Hakim Khan, a police officer in the government and diplomatic area of the capital, where the prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, has his official residence.
The spores have a molecular signature. You can pretty much tell from what lab they came, if they came from a recognized lab in the West or Russia. Golly gosh, wonder if the Paks will let us have a sample for testing?
Pakistan has been gripped for months by speculation that the government could be toppled by the military or the courts, and the use of a biological agent will deepen concern about the country's fragility.
A spokesman for Mr Gilani said it had been delivered in October and police were notified this week after laboratory tests were completed.
"We believe the culprit was a lady professor," said Akram Shaheedi, but he declined to speculate on a motive.