Fort Detrick labs searched again for anthrax clues

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FREDERICK, Md. -- FBI agents yesterday combed laboratory suites at Fort Detrick -- home to the Army's biological warfare defense program -- and a source said they again were looking for evidence in the 2001 anthrax attacks.

The labs at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases have been closed since Friday, Fort Detrick spokesman Charles Dasey said.

A law-enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press the activity is related to the anthrax mailings that killed five persons and sickened 17 in autumn 2001.

FBI agents have visited Fort Detrick frequently since the unsolved attacks, amid speculation that the deadly spores or the person who sent them may be connected to the fort.

Mr. Dasey said he didn't know which labs were involved, what sort of research had been conducted there or how long they would be closed.

Debra Weierman, spokeswoman for the FBI's Washington field office, said the lab probe was part of "an ongoing criminal investigation." She said she could not discuss details of the activity.

Much of the speculation about a Fort Detrick connection has centered on Stephen J. Hatfill, a former government scientist and bioweapons specialist who once worked at the infectious disease institute at Fort Detrick. The FBI had labeled Mr. Hatfill a "person of interest" in the case.

Mr. Hatfill has denied any role in the attacks. He filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington contending the government invaded his privacy and ruined his reputation by leaking information to the press implicating him in the attacks. His lawsuit seeks to clear his name and recover unspecified monetary damages.

His attorney, Victor M. Glasberg, had no comment yesterday.

Agents have been revisiting sites and leads in the investigation, code-named "Amerithrax."

In May, agents interviewed another former Fort Detrick researcher and his co-workers about his whereabouts when the letters were mailed, he and his attorney said. The researcher, Ayaad Assaad, who now works for the federal Environmental Protection Agency, said the FBI assured him he is not a suspect in the attacks.