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| Europe |
| Nerve gas ingredient found in letters to embassies in Brussels |
| 2003-06-04 |
| BRUSSELS - Belgian investigators found a nerve gas ingredient in letters addressed to the Belgian prime minister's office and several embassies, the government said Wednesday. The letters, some of which were intercepted by police due to anthrax fears, prompted an emergency meeting of the health, justice and interior ministers to assess the incident and consider extra security measures, a government spokeswoman said. At least 10 letters were mailed to addresses, including the U.S., British and Saudi Embassies in Brussels, as Belgium was trying 23 suspected accomplices of al Qaeda, the radical Muslim group blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. |
| Posted by:liberalhawk |
| #8 This is the stuff the Chinese were selling to France for delivery to Iraq via Syria? |
| Posted by: john 2003-06-04 14:41:00 |
| #7 There is a Flemish Liberation Movement. here God, the crap laying around the back of my brain... |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-06-04 14:25:55 |
| #6 Gee, it's not just a floor wax, it's also a food topping!!! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-06-04 14:14:30 |
| #5 Don't panic! Hydrazine is also used for boiler water treatment, chemical and pharmaceuticals manufacture, and many other things. See: http://www.hydrazine.com/About.asp |
| Posted by: Tom 2003-06-04 14:01:40 |
| #4 Hydrazine? They use that in rocket fuel. How the hell did they get hold of some of that? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-06-04 12:01:40 |
| #3 Details: "The brownish-yellow powder contained phenarsazine chloride, an arsenic derivative used in nerve gas, as well as hydrazine, an agent used as a rocket propellant, said Health Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Francoise Gally said." A spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor's office said police suspected that the letters had one source. "There are clear indications that the sender of the letters is one and the same person," Lieve Pellens told VRT. "There are clear similarities among the letters." Pellens said some of them also contained a written message reading "International Islamic Society" and "Bastards." |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-06-04 12:01:19 |
| #2 bbc says one items was an aresenic derivative, other was hydrazine, used as an incapacitating agent. Apparently the latter is of more concern, as its harder to get ahold of. There were several other targets besides the embassies - some belgian transport facilities, and the PM's office. Its stated that neither agent is usually fatal - so doesnt sound like serious terrorism - not sure what is really going on. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-06-04 11:53:59 |
| #1 Must be a disgruntled Merkin. Anyone watching Hatfill since they hit him with the car? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-06-04 10:27:37 |