http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/288/nation/Anthrax_cases_called_terrorism+.shtml

Anthrax cases called terrorism

More test positive for exposure in N.Y.

By Raja Mishra and Beth Daley, Globe Staff, 10/15/2001

ELRAY BEACH, Fla. - Bush administration officials, speaking on morning news programs, yesterday labeled the anthrax contaminations around the country as bioterrorist attacks.

''To send a threat of anthrax through the mail or to communicate a threat with anthrax is against the law, a threat regarding chemical or biological warfare,'' Attorney General John D. Ashcroft said yesterday on CBS's ''Face the Nation.''

''It is an act of terrorism,'' said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson on Fox News, adding that the term applies even if those responsible are US citizens.

''I mean, sending anthrax - is it the Al Qaeda? We don't know. But it certainly is an act of terrorism to send anthrax through the mail,'' he said.

The only other documented bioterrorism attack in US history occurred in 1984, when members of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh cult poisoned a salad bar with salmonella, which sickened hundreds of people.

To date, anthrax has killed a photo editor at a Florida tabloid and caused skin infections in two NBC News employees in New York.

In addition, two lab workers and a police officer who handled the anthrax-contaminated letter that had been sent to NBC tested positive for anthrax exposure yesterday, New York officials said. Previously, seven Floridians have tested positive for exposure, meaning noninfectious anthrax spores were found on them.

In Reno, where an anthrax-positive letter from Malaysia turned up in the offices of software giant Microsoft, four of six employees who handled the mysterious mailing showed no signs of anthrax exposure yesterday, with similar results expected for the two others.

The New York, Florida, and Nevada cases appear to involve anthrax sent through the mail. In New York, the source of the bacteria was traced to a letter addressed to news anchor Tom Brokaw. It was opened by his assistant, then handled by several city emergency workers. The letter was mailed from Trenton, N.J., on Sept. 18.

In Florida, two of the exposed employees worked in the mailroom, where traces of anthrax were found. In Nevada, clippings from pornographic magazines mailed to a Microsoft office contained a small amount of the bacteria. The envelope originally contained a check sent from the Microsoft office to a contractor in Malaysia. It came back with the anthrax-coated clippings.

The cases are not linked, said federal officials.

FBI officals have not linked the anthrax cases to the Sept. 11 hijackers, but the timing of the two unprecedented events has aroused suspicion around the country.

Thompson said that investigators have found no theft of anthrax from the dozens of low-security labs around the country that store the bacteria for scientific purposes.

''That doesn't mean that somebody couldn't have walked out with a vial or some kind of a specimen and grew it,'' he said. ''It's been possible that some has been misapplied, misappropriated.''

In Florida, where most of the anthrax cases have been confirmed, there are unexplained, perhaps coincidental, connections between the bioterrorism and the Sept. 11 hijackings.

The wife of the editor of the Sun tabloid newspaper in Boca Raton, where the first anthrax cases were found, had rented Delray Beach apartments to two of the alleged hijackers, FBI officals confirmed yesterday.

The only death resulting from anthrax was that of Robert Stevens, a photo editor at the Sun.

Gloria Irish, the wife of Sun editor Michael Irish, rented a $900-a-month fifth-floor apartment in the Delray Racquet Club to Hamza Alghamdi, who was allegedly a hijacker on the second plane that crashed into the World Trade Center. Also, she rented a room at the Hamlet, a gated community, to Marwan Al-Shehhi. Al-Shehhi is believed to have been the ringleader on the same flight. Both men left Florida on Sept. 9, later checking into the Milner Hotel in downtown Boston.

FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said the bureau was aware of the connection, but ''all we can say right now is it is a strange coincidence.''

Another coincidence is that Michael Irish, an amateur pilot, used to fly from Palm Beach County Air Park, the same airport where several of the suspected hijackers developed their flying skills.

While Michael Irish has not been seen at the airport for several years, Civil Air Patrol Commander Bruce Smith said, the licensed pilot volunteered to run search-and-rescue missions. His wife, Gloria, often accompanied him for training. It is not clear if she flew as well.

It is unknown if Michael Irish had crossed paths with any of the alleged hijackers, and the FBI refused to say if there was an investigation into the matter.

The Irishes could not be reached for comment.

Some employees of American Media said the Irishes had openly discussed the odd coincidences before the anthrax outbreaks.

Meanwhile, 65 FBI agents have begun interviewing employees of American Media Inc. about the anthrax contamination in their building.

In Boston, preliminary tests on a Globe editor were negative for anthrax exposure. The editor asked for the tests after handling a threatening letter similar to one that provoked fears of anthrax contamination at The New York Times last week.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001