ISLAMABAD, Sept 7: Fear of Anthrax came back haunting the US diplomats in Pakistan when the American embassy here also received an envelope containing suspicious material like its consulate in Karachi.

Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor told Dawn on Sunday the embassy received the envelope on Friday, a day after the consulate reported that it had received a similar envelope.

However, he said the embassy and the consulate were working normally and their authorities had no intention to close them.

Questioned about the nature of the substance, the spokesman said: “The envelope as well as the substance are currently being tested and analysed.”

Mr Fintor declined to answer where the test and analysis were being carried out, in Pakistan or in the US, whom the envelopes were addressed to and whether they contained any threats, saying the matter was being investigated.

Standard security measures and procedures were adopted as the embassy took such activity and every threat seriously, he added.

Mr Fintor said the embassy had informed the government of Pakistan about the suspect envelopes. He denied that the embassy or its diplomats had received any threat of terrorist attacks in recent months.

A senior police officer told Dawn that police was informed that the envelope did not contain explosives, something the police would be responsible to check.

Two cases of mailing toxic powder (Anthrax) took place in Pakistan one in 2001 and second in 2006. Anthrax is an acute disease in humans and animals caused by the Bacterium Bacillus Anthracis which is highly lethal in some forms.

After a gun attack on the car of a US diplomat in Peshawar last month the interior ministry had directed all police units in the country to make effective and foolproof security measures for diplomats and installations of member countries of the US-led coalition fighting the war on terror.

The police advised the diplomats to restrict their movements and to inform it before moving in the city so that it provided them extra security.