Posted on 10/29/2001 9:15:44 AM PST by TheOtherOne
USA: U.S. health building presumed positive for anthrax.
12:54 ET
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.
WASHINGTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - A Department of Health and Human Services building has tested "presumptively positive" for anthrax, Secretary Tommy Thompson said on Monday.
The mailrooms at the Cohen building, which houses offices of the Food and Drug Administration, the Voice of America and other agencies, have been closed and mailroom workers are being given antibiotics, Thompson said at a news briefing.
"The Cohen building has been presumptively positively tested for anthrax over the past couple days," Thompson said.
Thompson said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is conducting additional tests to confirm whether samples recovered were anthrax, the potentially deadly bacteria that has killed three people in the United States since early October. He said results would be available in 24 to 48 hours.
US Rumsfeld Says No American Military Forces CapturedU.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld Monday suggested that three weeks of air strikes against Taliban and al Qaida forces inside Afghanistan has produced a foundation for the next and "sustained" phase of the war against terrorism.
Rumsfeld, during a regular media briefing, also expressed regret at the incidence of civilian casualties from U.S. bombing while saying that such casualities are inevitable in any conflict.
He also dismissed suggestions that American military personnel has been captured in Afghanistan.
Federal Judge OKs Entry Of LNG Tanker Into Boston HarborA federal judge cleared the way Monday for a liquefied natural gas tanker to enter Boston Harbor, ruling that the city didn't show enough proof that the tanker could be a threat.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino asked a federal judge to ban the tanker from entering the harbor, because of fears of a possible terrorist attack.
But Distrigas of Massachusetts, whose affiliate owns the tanker, insisted that the company, working with state, local and federal officials, had put strong security measures in place.
NYC Giuliani: FBI Must Share Data With Local CopsThe FBI should be required to share information on counter-terrorism with local law enforcement in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said Monday.
Testifying in City Hall at a field hearing of the House terrorism subcommittee, Giuliani proposed that Congress pass a law requiring the FBI and other federal authorities to share their intelligence with local police and government officials, especially in a crisis.
White House: Can't Reveal All it Knows On AnthraxThe Bush administration Monday said it couldn't reveal all it has learned about the anthrax that was mailed to the New York Post and Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle, D-S.D., because to do so could help the perpetrators.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer gave the warning after telling reporters that tests had revealed that the Daschle anthrax had no aluminum in it. This proves, Fleischer said, that bentonite wasn't used to make the anthrax more deadly. U.N. weapons inspectors have reported that Iraq used bentonite in its biological-weapons program.
NYC Postal Worker Who Died Oct 10 Didn't Have AnthraxA Manhattan postal employee who died Oct. 10 did not have anthrax , the medical examiner's office said Monday.
Spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said a review of the death of Laura Jones, prompted by the discovery of anthrax spores on four mail-sorting machines in Manhattan, confirmed that she died of hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
Pentagon: Bombing Campaign Pushes North, Targets CavesThe U.S. military has extended its bombing of Afghanistan northward toward the border area with Tajikistan and is also trying to hit cave hide-outs of Taliban and al-Qaida forces, a Pentagon spokeswoman said Monday.
Speaking as the U.S.-led effort enters its fourth week, spokeswoman Victoria Clark told reporters the objectives for Monday's bombing included the Taliban military's armor and troop concentrations.
Clark said bombers are trying to work systematically through the complex system of caves.
White House To Target Aliens Who Back TerrorismPresident George W. Bush on Monday will announce the creation of a inter-agency task force that will work to prevent aliens who back terrorism from entering the U.S., White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
"The president will announce the creation of a task force to help agencies of the government work together to prevent aliens who support terror from entering the United States, and the president will also direct these agencies to work together to locate, detain, prosecute and deport any alien who is already here and may be engaging in terrorism," Fleischer said.
White House Pins Aviation-Security Hopes On ConferenceThe Bush administration indicated Monday that it now hopes to work out differences it has with the Senate Democrats on the aviation-security bill when the bill goes to a conference committee.
At the moment, the bill, which would boost the security of the nation's airlines, is stalled in the House by partisan bickering over the issue of whether the people who screen baggage and passengers should be federal employees. Republicans are against the federalizing the screeners but Democrats favor it.
Rumsfeld: US Giving Air-Ground Aid To Taliban OppositionAs U.S. fighter jets dropped bombs behind Taliban lines Monday afternoon, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld dismissed criticism the U.S. campaign hasn't done enough to help the opposition forces.
He said the earlier phase of bombing was aimed at creating an atmosphere where U.S.-led forces could provide "effective air-ground support for the opposition forces....We are now doing that.
White House Says No Bentonite Found In Daschle AnthraxThe Bush administration said Monday that it has found no evidence that bentonite was added to the anthrax mailed to Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle, D.-S.D.
The statement is significant because U.N. weapons inspectors reported that Iraq had experimented with coating anthrax spores with bentonite to make the spores more easily airborne.
Saudi Denies Claims It Isn't Cooperating In Terror FightA Saudi official says accusations the kingdom is not co-operating in the battle against terrorism are "fabrications."
Deputy Interior Minister Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz told a news conference on Sunday that "the kingdom has not hesitated regarding anything that would benefit security or in cooperation with any other country," the official Saudi Press Agency reported Monday.
US O'Neill Urges Fin Action Task Force To Act GloballyU.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill Monday urged an international task force to reach out to "every country in the world" as it strives to set standards for rooting out terrorist financing.
Addressing the opening of special meetings of the Financial Action Task Force in Washington, O'Neill said the group should adopt "special recommendations that will set the international standard for terrorist financing." It also should take steps to spread use of these standards for all countries, not just the 29 which belong to the task force.
US Military Commander Meets With Pakistani PresidentThe commander of American forces in the Afghanistan campaign met with Pakistan's leader Monday to discuss the U.S. military strike as it entered its fourth week.
Gen. Tommy Franks, commander-in-chief of the U.S. Central Command, met with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf during the afternoon. Also attending the meeting were top Pakistani military officials and Wendy Chamberlin, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan.
US Jets Bomb Taliban Front Line Positions North Of KabulU.S. fighter jets roared high over the front line where Taliban forces face opposition fighters north of the Afghan capital Monday, dropping bombs behind the Taliban's lines.
The scream of the jets could be heard over the Shomali plain, north of Kabul, intermittently throughout the afternoon. In addition to Monday's raids, U.S. jets bombarded the Taliban front lines overnight, said Mir Rahman, the deputy brigade commander of northern alliance forces based at the Bagram airport, about 50 kilometers north of Kabul.
Pakistan Detains Nuclear Scientist Again - FamilyA top nuclear scientist being questioned by the government about his ties to Afghanistan's Taliban was released briefly, then detained again, family members said Monday.
Sultan Bashiru-Din Mehmood was told he was wanted for further interrogation, a family member said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We were happy, and we thought he has been released," the relative said Monday. "But the authorities took him away last night."
Saudi Arrested Leaving Afghanistan; Al-Qaida Links ProbedA Saudi and his Afghan companion were arrested leaving Afghanistan and held for investigation of possible links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida organization, police said Monday.
Musa bin Mazhan bin Salman al-Saifi was carrying no passport or other travel documents when he was detained Sunday at the Torkham crossing point, police said.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires 29-10-01
1801GMT
WASHINGTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - A White House spokesman said on Monday that anthrax -tainted mail may have been taken to the U.S. State Department from a mailroom across the street.
"My understanding is that it involved mail that was received at a remote facility across the street ... from the State Department that was brought into the State Department, into the mailrooms of the State Department," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters.
The spokesman said the U.S. Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the president, was aware of the possibility before U.S. President George W. Bush traveled to the State Department to make a speech on Monday morning.
"It did not pose any problem for the president or his traveling party," Fleischer said at a daily briefing, referring reporters to the State Department for more information.
Memo to all Boston area Freepers - Perhaps that long awaited move to New hampshire could be put on the fast track along with the transfer to the offices outside Route 128.
Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
The only open entrance to the Building is on "C" Street, SW, between 3rd and 4th Streets.
It is directly across 3rd Street from the Hubert Humphrey Building, which is the HQ Building for the Department of Health and Human Services.
It is directly across "C" Street, SW, from the Mary Switzer Federal Building, which houses the Department of Education and other HHS Offices.
It is diagonally across the intersection of 3 and C Streets, SW, from the FDA Building.
The closest Metro Stop is Federal Center, SW, on the Blue and Orange Lines.
No, I believe that is incorrect. Our grown-ups in Washington know more about what we are up against. It is hardly Anthrax. Anthrax, in any form, is simply a terrorist. I know that sounds callous. But, what we really face is far scarier. If we see panicked people now, just imagine something that is contagious or radioactive. Anthrax is really is a small problem. I just cannot figure out why all of these new contaminated sites are springing up. It makes me wonder if it is only in the mail OR, perhaps there were 'friendly' letters containing Anthrax in the envelopes?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.