US President Barack Obama speaks on the Boston Marathon bombings on April 16, 2013 in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Photo/AFP AFP
A letter addressed to President Barack Obama containing a
"suspicious" substance was intercepted at a mail screening facility
outside the White House, the US Secret Service said Wednesday.
The letter was discovered at the remote facility
which is used to screen White House mail on Tuesday, the same day
authorities said a letter was sent to Senator Roger Wicker which was
laced with ricin, a deadly poison.
Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said the
agency, which protects the president and his family, was working closely
with the US Capitol Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to
trace the origins of the letter.
The discovery of the letters rattled nerves
following the bomb attacks near the finish line at the Boston Marathon
on Monday which killed three people and injured more than 180 others,
though it was not clear if the incidents were linked.
The episode also recalled the mysterious series of
letters laced with anthrax that were sent to lawmakers and some
journalists following the September 11 attacks in 2001 which killed five
people and sickened 17 others.
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