Suspect packages sent to London diplomats

FOUR suspicious packages were sent to "diplomatic premises" in London yesterday, Scotland Yard said last night.

The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia confirmed it received an envelope containing white powder yesterday morning.

In a statement, the embassy said: "A closed envelope arrived at the embassy this morning containing white powder.

"The embassy contacted the British authorities who dealt with the matter on the spot.

"The embassy has taken all the precautionary measures for the protection and safety of its employees."

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that four suspicious packages were sent to diplomatic premises in London today and they are currently being examined."

The spokeswoman said no further details were available.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that a number of suspicious packages have been received and are being investigated. No further information is available at this stage."

A British government source said that none of the locations were government buildings. It was understood they were all foreign embassies.

Police later confirmed that the four packages were received by four separate diplomatic premises in the capital. It was understood that all the packages contained white powder.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said it had been made aware of the packages but stressed that the matter was being dealt with by the police.

The spokeswoman added: "The safety of our staff is paramount and we have procedures for dealing with any mail that employees consider suspicious.

"We would work with police to help them with their investigations."

A response plan was developed by Royal Mail, in collaboration with British security and emergency services, following the anthrax attacks in the US in October 2001.

Five people died after letters laced with anthrax were sent to various media and political organisations in the US in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

A Scotland Yard spokesman later said: "Initial tests suggest that the contents are non-hazardous but fuller tests are yet to be completed."