Kazakhs to clean-up massive anthrax dump

Kazakhstan is forming a special government commission to deal with a massive anthrax dump.

The Soviet Union tested biological weapons on Vozrozhdeniye island in the Aral Sea. The island is growing as the sea dries up and there are fears that anthrax spores could spread to the mainland.

The island is shared by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

US experts found live anthrax spores when they visited the island in 1995 to examine the site where the Soviets also buried tons of weapons-grade anthrax soaked in a decontaminating solution to kill the germs.

Russian scientists say the anthrax strain used by mail terrorists in the United States appears to be the usual strain from American research laboratories.