WASHINGTON - US authorities have yet to pin down who was responsible for a series of anthrax attacks that killed five Americans in late 2001, US President George W. Bush's top counterrorism aide said Tuesday.
"Obviously, that's an ongoing investigation," Frances Townsend told reporters during a White House briefing on the newly declassified key findings of a National Intelligence Estimate on terrorist threats to the United States.
"I'm sure (FBI) Director (Robert) Mueller would be delighted to answer that," joked Townsend, who had said that the United States had not suffered a terrorist attack nearly six years after the September 11, 2001 strikes.
Asked whether the anthrax attacks, which began with a letter reportedly postmarked September 18, 2001, counted as a terrorist attack, Townsend tersely replied: "It does in my mind."
Five people died after letters containing anthrax spores were sent to several news media figures and two Democratic US senators.
07/17/2007 16:51 GMT