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| International |
| Anthrax destined for Canada, Brazil says |
| 2003-04-29 |
| Update, EFL Canadian investigators played down reports yesterday that an Egyptian who died from a suspected case of anthrax was carrying a package destined for Canada that might have contained the lethal bacteria. RCMP Inspector Dan Tanner dismissed media claims originating in Brazil that suggest the deceased was given a piece of luggage in Egypt to take to someone in Canada before he travelled to Brazil to join a ship Canada has quarantined off Nova Scotia. "I can assure you we've discovered no threat to Canada, criminally or terrorism-wise," Tanner said yesterday in Halifax. ``Right now it's just a story." But RCMP in Ottawa said they were trying to get more information on the claims by Brazilian officials investigating the man's death on April 11. Fernando Sergio Castro, a spokesperson for Brazilian federal police, told Reuters that the man in his 50s, identified as Ibrahim Saved Soliman Ibrahim, was given a suitcase in Cairo to be delivered to someone in Canada. Word that he opened the suitcase and was well before boarding his ship came from crewmates and health authorities, respectively. He had a standard health check before he boarded the ship. The body, the bag and all his belongings are in police hands in the Amazonian port of Belem. The Brazilian cops have the bag, that answers yesterday's big question. Results of a second conclusive autopsy by Brazilian health authorities in Brasilia were expected today. Brazil having a big cattle industry, I suspect they have experience with anthrax deaths. Once they determine if that is indeed what he died of and there are any containers of powder or liquid in the bag, then we can call this a terror incident. Until then, it's only a guess. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #6 Steven Den Beste thinks the guy got curious, opened the bag, saw white stuff, figured it was cocaine, and took a snort to find out... |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-04-29 16:28:00 |
| #5 Maybe the cops don't have the bag: Brazilian police donât know who Ibrahim was supposed to deliver the package to, or where it was going in Canada, Duarte said. âThe bag didnât come out from the the ship, just the corpse came out from the ship,â he said. âThe bag is in Canada because the bag went with the ship.â |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-04-29 14:38:24 |
| #4 Anthrax is enzootic (endemic in animals) in Brazil, especially in pigs and cattle. His symptoms sound a lot like intestinal anthrax, suggesting he could have picked it up there from something he ate. |
| Posted by: Sofia 2003-04-29 11:59:59 |
| #3 Big grain of salt. Remember that not too many years ago the hot story out of Brazil was the flocks of flying pigs that were being seen everywhere. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-04-29 10:34:13 |
| #2 Right wing white supremicists in Brazil? Those bastards are everywhere. |
| Posted by: Ray 2003-04-29 10:28:13 |
| #1 Steven Den Beste thinks the guy got curious, opened the bag, saw white stuff, figured it was cocaine, and took a snort to find out... |
| Posted by: Ptah 4/29/2003 4:28:00 PM |