Letters laced with poison sent to Obama,US Senator

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday that a letter addressed to President Obama appeared to contain the poison ricin

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday that a letter addressed to President Obama appeared to contain the poison ricin.

The letter was intercepted at a screening facility outside the White House,the Secret Service said. In a statement,the FBI said that the letter to the President contained a granular substance that preliminarily tested positive for ricin. The bureau also said that ricin had been discovered at another mail screening facility.

The Secret Service did not disclose what was in the letter or provide any details,saying it was intercepted in a facility that routinely identifies letters or parcels that require secondary screening or scientific testing before delivery.

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The letter addressed to the Mississippi Senator tested positive for the poison ricin,federal authorities revealed Tuesday,adding to security concerns in the Capitol after the Boston Marathon bombing. Ricin,derived from castor plant,can be fatal if ingested or inhaled.

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada,the majority leader,confirmed that an envelope addressed to Senator Wicker had been tested twice for ricin in a mail facility away from the Capitol with positive results both times. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was briefing senators on the Boston attack when she told them about the ricin.

The letter was postmarked in Memphis and had no suspicious markings or return address,the office of the Senate sergeant-at-arms reported. A federal official said the letter had been sent to the FBIs laboratories in Quantico for further examination because field tests for ricin can be unreliable. Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill said that the letter had come from someone who frequently writes lawmakers. She declined to divulge the name.