Canberra office cleared after envelope discovered; spokesman: no chemical, biological material found.
By JPOST.COM STAFF
The Israeli embassy in Canberra was evacuated on Wednesday morning after an envelope containing an unidentifiable white powder was sent to the building.
Police said the Australian capital's Israeli embassy was evacuated as a precaution and were investigating the incident.
A short while afterwards, similar envelopes arrived at both the US and the British embassies in the capital.
Embassy spokesman Dor Shapira told Army Radio that the envelope did not contain chemical or biological material.
"We acted according to protocol. The embassy was evacuated. Local police forces, as well as a biological and chemical specialist team, arrived at the scene," Shapira said.
After the team examined the substance, workers were permitted to return to their offices, Shapira added.
Foreign embassies in Australia, including the American, Japanese and South Korean offices, have been the target of similar scares over the past few years.