Envelope containing white powder sent to US embassy in Rabat tested anthrax free, official

The envelopes containing a white powder that were sent Thursday to the embassy of the United states in Rabat and to an Industrialist in Casablanca were tested anthrax free and did not contain any harmful element, a statement by the Moroccan ministry of the interior said Thursday evening.

The interior department, which described the act as a doubtful masquerade, said the competent services of the royal gendarmerie and the national security confirmed that the envelops received by the US embassy in Rabat and by industrialist Abdelkeder El Alej, in Casablanca did not reveal, after preliminary analysis "any doubtful or noxious element."

"This is probably a bad taste initiative, inspired from the recent events in the United States and in the world," the statement said.

Complementary scientific analyses are being conducted in specialized laboratories and an investigation is under way to identify the authors of this doubtful farce, the statement said adding the culprits incur heavy prison sentences in conformity with the law.