Package prompts US embassy alert

Forensic teams are carrying out tests

An envelope containing a "suspicious powder" has caused a security alert at the US embassy in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Emergency services went to the embassy, and the substance was removed for testing.

In a similar incident last week at the US embassy in Sri Lanka, a white powder was found to be harmless.

Five people died when the deadly bacteria anthrax was sent to addresses in the United States in 2001.

Three staff at the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur have been quarantined, but a medical check-up indicated that none of them were in any danger, police and an embassy official said.

"The envelope was opened by an embassy employee this morning and the Malaysian police Hazmat [hazardous materials] unit was called in to inspect it," an embassy spokesman told the French news agency AFP.

Testing

Senior assistant police commissioner Aziz Bulat said test results were expected in a day or two.

"We can't guess what the powder could be at this stage. It may be a mere scare, but we are taking it seriously," he said.

Emergency vehicles raced through the capital to reach the US mission after the alert was raised.

However, the embassy is reported to have remained open.

Malaysia's government opposed the invasion of Iraq, but has offered to help in its reconstruction.

It has played a prominent role in the US-led war on terror, detaining more than 80 alleged Islamic militants in recent years.