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Two letters sent by Bush have taken a year to reach Sweden

STOCKHOLM (AP) - Two letters sent by George Bush to the King of Sweden
and to the Prime Minister have take more than a year to reach their
addressees, having been retained in Washington by controls put in
place after the death of several persons killed by mail containing the
bacillus of coal in the United States, has announced Friday an
American diplomatic source in Stockholm.

In his message dated 23 October 2001 to the chief of the government
G�ran Persson, the president of the United States expressed his thanks
for condolences received after the 9/11 Attacks.

The envelope has been delivered Tuesday in Stockholm, accompanied by a
note of the American Department of State telling that "this
correspondence has been put in quarantine and retained for
sterilization as a result of the incident of the bacillus of coal
(anthrax). We are sorry for all prejudice that this delay can have
caused you".

Keith Petersen, spokesperson of the American embassy in Stockholm, has
declared to the Associated Press that copies of letters had been sent
to Mr. Persson and to the king Carl XVI Gustaf while the originals
were processed.
AP