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U.S. thinks letters from same source
Saturday, Oct. 27, 2001
 
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AP Photo
Photos released by the Justice Department Tuesday, Oct. 16, show the envelopes that contained letters and anthrax sent to NBC's Tom Brokaw and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.
By JOHN SOLOMON
and KAREN GULLO
Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON — Based on handwriting analysis and sophisticated profiling, investigators suspect one person wrote the three letters contaminated with anthrax but have drawn no conclusions about who is behind the attacks, government officials said Friday.

Investigators are exploring a variety of theories, including that a single deranged U.S. resident with a biochemical background, a terrorist group, a foreign country or some combination carried out the attacks, the officials said.

FBI agents are scouring U.S. and foreign laboratories for people who may have had access to the lethal bacteria and were awaiting test results on whether the anthrax in one of the letters was mixed with a chemical to make it more airborne, the officials said.

The officials, all of whom are involved in the investigation, described the current theories of the case on condition of anonymity and cautioned that their descriptions provide only a snapshot.

They said the three letters known to carry anthrax have distinct similarities.

The letters to NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw and the New York Post appear to be photocopies. The formation of the block letters on the third letter, to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, are similar to the letters in the Brokaw and New York Post letters.

However, the Brokaw and Post letters contain some double-writing of the letters ``A'' and ``T'' that is not evident in the Daschle letter, the officials noted.

One key to the theory of a single sender is that the block numerals used for the Sept. 11 date on all three letters appear to be near matches, the officials said.

The style of the date — written 09-11-01 — is more common in the United States than in Europe or the Middle East, suggesting the sender has been in the United States for some time, the officials said.

Investigators also believe the anthrax in all three letters is the same Ames strain that is common to the United States. However, the anthrax in the newspaper's letter was in a heavier, grainier state and the material in Daschle's letter was extremely light and buoyant, they said.

Officials caution that investigators haven't locked into any theory, and concede there are varying bodies of thought on who is behind the attacks that have killed three Americans and sickened 10 others.

``One possibility is some person of this (Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida) network did this but did not ask permission from Osama,'' said Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

Former U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler, who early on suggested Iraq could have supplied the anthrax, now says there are some signs that point to a U.S. source.

``If anything, the trend in the last few days has heightened the idea of some Unabomber type in the country,'' he said.

To assist the investigation, Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered federal prosecutors Friday to immediately begin using new powers granted under an anti-terrorism bill signed into law by President Bush. Ashcroft ordered prosecutors to use the expanded wiretap and surveillance to access unopened e-mail and voice mail of suspects.

Agents are aggressively investigating foreign and U.S. labs and personnel with access to the bacterium. Nationwide, there are more than five dozen labs believed to have access to anthrax, officials said.

Particular focus has been on labs in New Jersey where the letters were postmarked, they said. The state is home to numerous pharmaceutical labs.

``Tests are showing that it could be locally produced given the right circumstances,'' Special Agent Sandra Carroll said in Newark, N.J.

Investigators are using high-tech methods to match ink to a specific type of pen maker and new software to isolate faces on grainy security camera footage around key areas such as post offices where suspects might have gone, investigators said.

Some but not all investigators believe the author may have used phrases like ``Death to America'' and ``Allah is great'' to capitalize on Americans' distrust of Muslims in the aftermath of Sept. 11 attacks and to possibly hide his or her true identity and motive, the sources said.

As the number of places with traces of anthrax grows — the White House, CIA, State Department and Supreme Court have been added to the list in the last 48 hours — investigators are also exploring the possibility that additional infected letters were sent but haven't been detected.

``The range of contamination appears to be wider than two or three letters could have achieved,'' one official said.

If other letters aren't located, investigators suspect the finely milled anthrax spores sent to Daschle could have escaped through the weave of envelopes, contaminating sites along the way.

FBI profilers have examined the significance of the targets chosen so far — media outlets and a Democratic politician that could be despised by ultraconservative extremists and isolationists. But they say no conclusion can be drawn because more letters might emerge to different targets.

Several foreign countries are known to have pursued anthrax weapons, including the former Soviet Union, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, China, Libya, Syria, Israel, Egypt and Britain.

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