ENN Special Report
01/03/96 - 01:00CST

Wave of Letter Bombs Strikes Washington Newspaper, Kansas Prison
by C.L. Staten, ERRI Senior Analyst

(ENN) Washington, DC -- The FBI has this evening issued a warning about letter bombs, mailed from Alexandria, Egypt, and received at the National Press Club building in Washington DC. Seven devices were received at the offices of the Al-Hayat, an Arabic newspaper. They were described as being in plain, white envelopes, 5 1/2" X 61/2", with computer-generated addresses, no return address. They were post-marked on or around Dec. 21, 1996 from an Egyptian post office. They appeared to be Christmas cards.

The letter bombs were declared "viable" by FBI and DC police bomb technicians. " They could have gone off...they weren't duds," according to FBI spokesperson Jeff Lanza. Lanza was speaking in reference to two mail bombs received at the federal penitentiary at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas...interestingly, the same prison where Mohammad Salameh, convicted World Trade Center bomber, is serving time. The prison devices were addressed to "parole officer," obviously by someone who doesn't know that there are none assigned to federal prisons.

The FBI warned that additional devices could still be in the mail and cautioned press and government workers to be particularly aware of suspicious mail. FBI and U.S. postal inspectors said that the letter bombs did have the capability to "take a life" if opened. If similar mail is found by anyone, they should immediately notify their local police department bomb squad and not move or attempt to open the parcel. The FBI Terrorism Task Force, who have also been called in on the case, can also be notified at 202-252-7001.

In a related matter, sources close to the Washington investigation say that the devices may be amazing similar to those described by Paul Copher in a warning published by ENN in Vol. 2, No. 356, on 12/24/96:

+++ SECURITY ALERT+++

"Christmas Cards and Calculators (IEDS)

By: Paul Copher, ENN Counter-Terrorist Analyst-at-Large

"The nice Christmas cards that use tiny circuit boards to play music when opened are now being bought and can be used to act as the final circuit in the detonation of letter bombs. The device is removed from the card and fixed to the letter bomb. The flat DataSheet, Flex-X or even thinly cut and rolled out C-4 can be fitted with a detonator and the wiring tied into the musical circuit board. The tiny battery in the board has been found to have enough of a charge to fire some detonators. The explosive can then be fitted into a magazine or book. When opened the circuit will send the detonator a current of electricity and detonate the blasting cap and explosive.

The trend of bomb making is going high tech with smaller batteries set ups, mini-circuit boards, detonator types and even E cells. One recent find included a solar cell tied into a device that would detonate when exploded to interior lights and looked like a hand held calculator. When the panel was exposed to a desk light and the calculator turned on it would explode."

FBI and other federal agents said that they would speculate about the motivation of sending the letter bombs, nor who may have been responsible. But, at least one purposely unidentified CT analyst said that it is "likely" that the lethal mail could relate to a number of Egyptian and other Mid-East extremists currently serving time in American prisons. Additionally, he pointed to an increasing level of angry rhetoric coming form Iran and Syria.

The investigation continues at this hour, and all mail to the Al-Hayat offices will be inspected by postal inspectors. The Federal Bureau of Prisons said that it will also conduct similar surveillance. Other search activities are also being studied by counter-terrorist authorities.

For additional information on letter/parcel bombs:
Click here for U.S Postal Service Notice #71
Click here for Letter/Parcel Bomb Graphic

(C) EmergencyNet News Service, 1996, All rights reserved.
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