$1 million reward for anthrax arrest

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Federal investigators pressed for evidence at research labs and universities that may have access to anthrax and questioned pharmacies to see if anyone tried to buy large amounts of antibiotics before the nationwide anthrax scare.

As a third television network in New York reported an anthrax exposure and a New Jersey postal worker who may have handled two anthrax letters tested positive for the disease, authorities offered $1 million for information leading to the arrest of those who sent the deadly spores.

"Once again we call upon the public to assist us in this fight against terrorism," FBI Director Robert Mueller said in a joint announcement with the Postmaster General Jack Potter.

Officials stressed that they had not determined whether the anthrax came from foreigners or U.S. residents. One scenario being explored is whether someone living in the United States might have gotten help from a foreign country, a company or an overseas or domestic terrorist with enhanced biochemical capabilities, officials said.

"We think it may be ill-advised to think about the situation in terms of an either/or matrix," Attorney General John Ashcroft said. He also raised the possibility that the anthrax attacks could be the work of more than one home-grown terrorist.

"It might well be that we have opportunists in the United States or terrorists in the United States who are acting in ways that are unrelated," Ashcroft said.

With two of the anthrax letters postmarked in Trenton, N.J., investigators fanned out across the state looking for evidence, including whether anyone had sought large doses of antibiotics that protect against anthrax infection before the current cases occurred. They also checked sites where sophisticated equipment or anthrax expertise might be found.

Law enforcement officials said one possible source of evidence — DNA from saliva on the envelope seal or stamp — may be missing.

The sender probably understood that licking a stamp or the envelope could prove deadly given the anthrax spores and could be tested for DNA. The envelope sent to Daschle’s office was sealed instead with tape, and both the Daschle and Brokaw envelopes were prestamped by machine imprinters and didn’t need an adhesive stamp.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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