Egyptian Sailor Dies in Brazil From Anthrax- Brazil Police

Reuters ^ | April 28, 2003

[Shermy]

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - A crew member of an Egyptian merchant ship has died in northern Brazil, almost certainly from anthrax, after opening a suitcase suspected of containing the substance which he was taking to Canada.

A spokesman for Brazilian federal police in the Amazon state of Para said on Monday an autopsy of the Egyptian man, whom he named as Ibrahim Saved Soliman Ibrahim, showed that he had died after vomiting, internal bleeding and multiple organ failure.

"He was the victim of anthrax," said Castro, adding that police were 90 percent certain that Ibrahim had died of anthrax.

Ibrahim died in the hotel were he was staying on April 11. Several health workers who found his body were taken to a hospital after becoming ill but are now out of danger.

Ibrahim had traveled to Brazil from Cairo to join his ship, the Wabi Alaras, which loaded bauxite in the Amazon to take to Canada.

"We imagine that this is about bioterrorism and Brazil was just used as a point of transfer," said Castro.

Ibrahim died before his ship sailed to Canada, where it was quarantined by authorities last week.

Canada was alerted about the ship through Interpol.

Castro said Ibrahim had been given the suitcase in Cairo by an unidentified person and was due to deliver it to somebody in Canada. But he doubted Ibrahim knew what the content of the bag was otherwise he most likely would not have opened it.

"He opened it because he was curious," Castro said.

After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, five people died in still-unsolved anthrax mailings.

[FairOpinion]

Exactly. I think Canada and many people in general prefer to be in denial.

And, of course, as some have brought it up, THIS suitcase was intercepted. How many others are out there that haven't been?

Remember a while ago about some ME men wanting to be smuggled into the US, with some substance which required refrigeration? We never heard any more about that...

[Shermy]

Here's a story about SARS:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030428/wl_afp/health_sars_france_030428202917

The best thing about it is the pic Yahoo links with it - a coughing French prime minister.

[BagCamAddict]

Of course there is no threat "TO" Canada... the suitcase was being delivered to someone in Canada, who would later walk it into the U.S., just like the Millenium Bomber, who was headed from Canada to Los Angeles, and just like half the Sept. 11 hijackers... No one should think that 'en route' to Canada means anything other than a stopover point to the ultimate destination of the United States.

[Travis McGee]

I think reality may hit before the fictional account can be written.

[BagCamAddict]

And what about those three ships we were tracking before the war?

Remember the three ships with no country of origin/registration, that were milling around with no destination... and we didn't want to board them for fear they were carrying WMD and the occupants might release the weapons if we tried to board the ships. And we didn't want to sink them for fear of an environmental disaster if they were carrying WMD, etc.

Has anyone heard any more about those ships since the war started?

[Allan]

Looks like the Canadians are down-playing the incident.

I would recommend not posting anything by the CBC or the Toronto Star.

Both are official organs of the Ministry of Propaganda in Canada.

[Shermy]

Did some research:

Belem is not on the Amazon - it is in Para state, and apparently Belem itself is somethimes called "Para"

Porto Trobetas is 3-400 miles up the Amazon from the ocean. There is an Alcoa bauxite operation there - Info by clicking this Alcoa map of Brazil.

Maybe the ship was laden, was heading back down the Amazon near the mouth adjacent to Amapa state, and then the fellow got sick, and he was taken to, rerouted, whatever to Belem.

Just speculation...

[aristeides]

I believe I read in one of the accounts that, after Ibrahim died in Porto Trombetas, his body was flown to Belem.

[Allan]

I should have pinged you on #207.

[Shermy]

I gather he flew from Cairo to Sao Paulo, then flew to Para (Belem) then got to Porto Trombeto - but the articles above don't say how he made the last leg. Maybe flew there, maybe he met the Wadi al Arab at Belem before it proceded to Proto Trombeto - Belem is a big port and logical fueling station for such a large ship.

We'll figger it out. :)

[aristeides]

My understanding is that he flew from Sao Paolo to the city on the mouth of the Amazon (Macapa? Some name like that,) where he caught the ship, the Wadi Al-Arab, and went on the ship to Porto Trombetas.

[Aliska]

Don't forget the way we know Al-Qaeda operate - this was unlikley to be the only laod of anthrax to be brought in. We got lucky with this one - the courier killed himself. How many other loads got in. Watch for people getting sick soon.

My thoughts exactly.

So easy to smuggle. So difficult to detect in time.

[nicmarlo]

The incubation period ranges from 6 days to 2 weeks.

Thanks for the info, pokerbuddy.

[nicmarlo]

That's portugese, not spanish. There doesn't appear to be anything in there that's not in the Reuters report.

No wonder I couldn't read it as well; thanks ldc for informing about the translation info.

[Shermy]

Macapa or Maraba?

Forget Belem, I made a mistake. See # 46. It says he flew from Sao Paulo to Maraba, of Para state - a small city(200 mi. south of Belem, inland.) Offers no explanation how he got to Porto Trombetas.

Macapa is a small city at the mouth of the Amazon in Amapa state.

So is it Maraba, Para or Macapa, Amapa?

Or did he fly to Macapa, Amapa from Maraba, Para and picked up his ship there?

Did he pick these towns to tongue tie us infidels?

And shouldn't the Brazilians be checking and Al Qaeda/Hezbo contacts he had on the trip...

[nicmarlo]

The weird thing is, Shermy's post says that health care workers found his body in the hotel room....how would that have been mistakenly reported rather than the "fact" that he died on ship? Very odd.

[Publicus]

"This is one that got opened. How many were not opened by their couriers?"

EXCELLENT QUESTION!

[oceanview]

Alot of open questions on this one:

- why fly to Brazil with a suitcase full of anthrax viles? Does Brazil not have any type of customs agents that would open the suitcase? Why not fly directly to Canada, as opposed to picking up a freighter from Brazil to Canada?

- Iraq has had such a long period of time to smuggle this stuff into the US, years. They could have done it before 9/11, when security was ultra-lax at airports, ports, etc. Why move the shipment now?

[oceanview]

Alot of open questions on this one:

- why fly to Brazil with a suitcase full of anthrax viles? Does Brazil not have any type of customs agents that would open the suitcase? Why not fly directly to Canada, as opposed to picking up a freighter from Brazil to Canada?

- Iraq has had such a long period of time to smuggle this stuff into the US, years. They could have done it before 9/11, when security was ultra-lax at airports, ports, etc. Why move the shipment now?