Malaysian embassies on alert

2005-10-05 18:29

Kuala Lumpur - Another three embassies in Malaysia received suspicious packages on Wednesday, raising security fears and bringing the number of missions hit by the scare to at least nine.

Officials at the Australian high commission and the United States and French embassies said suspicious packages had arrived in the morning.

"We received a package this morning and called in police who have taken it away for analysis," said an Australian high commission official.

A French embassy official said their security officers had examined an express mail package, that contained a compact disc wrapped in yellow plastic and with a postmark from the city of Kota Baru in northern Kelantan state.

The police and the hazardous materials unit were called, said the official.

Japanese embassy evacuated

US embassy officials said they received a "suspicious package" at 11:00 . No other details were available.

The morning deliveries brought the confirmed total of missions to have received suspicious packages to at least nine.

Japan, Germany, Thailand, Canada, the Philippines, and Singapore all received the parcels on Tuesday by express mail.

The Japanese embassy, the first to receive a package, was evacuated for several hours in the afternoon as police investigated, but the all-clear was signalled several hours later.

Earlier reports said the Italian embassy also had received a parcel, but deputy head of mission Raffaella Di Fabio said on Wednesday that it had not.

Not all missions released details of the packages, but most diplomats said the packages contained a compact disc and liquid.

"It contained a broken CD and it was in a transparent envelope and surrounded by a small amount of liquid," said Chan Haastrecht, second secretary for the Canadian high commission.

"It was cracked in several places."

The district police chief for the area where most missions are located, Kamal Pasha Jamal, said police had been placed on alert.

"Security at the embassies has been beefed up, and we have deployed more police officers to enhance patrols in the areas," said Kamal.

- AFP