2001 anthrax attacks, Context
Two more anthrax letters, bearing the same Trenton postmark, were dated October 9, three weeks after the first mailing. The letters were addressed to two Democratic Senators, Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Patrick Leahy of Vermont. At the time, Daschle was the Senate Majority leader and Leahy was head of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Daschle letter was opened by an aide, Grant Leslie, on October 15, and the government mail service was shut down. The unopened Leahy letter was discovered in an impounded mailbag on November 16. The Leahy letter had been misdirected to the State Department mail annex in Sterling, Virginia, because a ZIP code was misread; a postal worker there, David Hose, contracted inhalational anthrax.


2001 anthrax attacks, Context
More potent than the first anthrax letters, the material in the Senate letters was a highly refined dry powder consisting of about one gram of nearly pure spores. A series of conflicting news reports appeared, some claiming the powders had been "weaponized" with silica. Bioweapons experts who later viewed images of the attack anthrax saw no indication of "weaponization". Tests by Sandia National Laboratories in early 2002 confirmed that the attack powders were not weaponized.


2001 anthrax attacks, Context
At least 22 people developed anthrax infections, 11 of whom contracted the especially life-threatening inhalational variety. Five died of inhalational anthrax: Stevens; two employees of the Brentwood mail facility in Washington, D.C. (Thomas Morris Jr. and Joseph Curseen), and two whose source of exposure to the bacteria is still unknown: Kathy Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant resident in the New York City borough of the Bronx who worked in the city, and the last known victim Ottilie Lundgren, a 94-year-old widow of a prominent judge from Oxford, Connecticut.


2001 anthrax attacks, Context
Because it took so long to identify a culprit, the 2001 anthrax attacks have been compared to the Unabomber attacks which took place from 1978 to 1995.


2001 anthrax attacks, The letters
Authorities believe that the anthrax letters were mailed from Princeton, New Jersey. Investigators found anthrax spores in a city street mailbox located at 10 Nassau Street near the Princeton University campus. About 600 mailboxes were tested for anthrax which could have been used to mail the letters, and the Nassau Street box was the only one to test positive.


2001 anthrax attacks, The letters
The New York Post and NBC News letters contained the following note:


2001 anthrax attacks, The letters
09 -11-01THIS IS NEXTTAKE PENACILIN  [sic] NOWDEATH TO AMERICADEATH TO ISRAELALLAH IS GREAT


2001 anthrax attacks, The letters
The second note was addressed to Senators Daschle and Leahy and read:


2001 anthrax attacks, The letters
09 -11-01YOU CAN NOT STOP US. WE HAVE THIS ANTHRAX. YOU DIE NOW. ARE YOU AFRAID? DEATH TO AMERICA. DEATH TO ISRAEL. ALLAH IS GREAT.


2001 anthrax attacks, The letters
All the letters were copies made by a copy machine, and the originals were never found. Each letter was trimmed to a slightly different size. The senate letter uses punctuation, while the media letter does not. The handwriting on the media letter and envelopes is roughly twice the size of the handwriting on the senate letter and envelopes. The envelopes addressed to Senators Daschle and Leahy had a fictitious return address:


2001 anthrax attacks, The letters
Franklin Park, New Jersey, exists, but the ZIP code 08852 is for nearby Monmouth Junction, New Jersey. There is no Greendale School in Franklin Park or Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, though there is a Greenbrook Elementary School in adjacent South Brunswick Township, New Jersey.


2001 anthrax attacks, The letters, False leads
The Amerithrax investigation involved many leads which took time to evaluate and resolve. Among them were numerous letters which initially appeared to be related to the anthrax attacks but were never directly linked.


2001 anthrax attacks, The letters, False leads
For example, before the New York letters were found, hoax letters mailed from St. Petersburg, Florida, were thought to be the anthrax letters or related to them. A letter received at the Microsoft offices in Reno, Nevada, after the discovery of the Daschle letters gave a false positive in a test for anthrax. Later, because the letter had been sent from Malaysia, Marilyn Thompson of The Washington Post connected the letter to Steven Hatfill, whose girlfriend was from Malaysia. The letter merely contained a check and some pornography, and was neither a threat nor a hoax.


2001 anthrax attacks, The letters, False leads
A copycat hoax letter containing harmless white powder was opened by reporter Judith Miller in The New York Times newsroom.


2001 anthrax attacks, The letters, False leads
Also unconnected to the anthrax attacks was a large envelope received at American Media, Inc., in Boca Raton, Florida (which was among the victims of the attacks) in September 2001. It was addressed "Please forward to Jennifer Lopez c/o The Sun", containing a metal cigar tube with a cheap cigar inside, an empty can of chewing tobacco, a small detergent carton, pink powder, a Star of David pendant, and "a handwritten letter to Jennifer Lopez. The writer said how much he loved her and asked her to marry him."


2001 anthrax attacks, The letters, False leads
Another letter, which mimicked the original anthrax letter to Senator Daschle, was mailed to Daschle from London in November 2001, at a time when Hatfill was in England, not far from London. Shortly before the discovery of the anthrax letters, someone sent a letter to authorities stating, "Dr. Assaad is a potential biological terrorist." No connection to the anthrax letters was ever found.


2001 anthrax attacks, The letters, False leads
During the first years of the FBI's investigation, Don Foster, a professor of English at Vassar College, attempted to connect the anthrax letters and various hoax letters from the same period to Steven Hatfill. Foster's beliefs were published in Vanity Fair and Readers' Digest. Hatfill sued and was later exonerated. The lawsuit was settled out of court.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material
The letters sent to the media contained a coarse brown material, while the letters sent to the two U.S. Senators contained a fine powder. The brown granular anthrax mostly caused skin infections, cutaneous anthrax (9 out of 12 cases), although Kathy Nguyen's case of inhalation anthrax occurred at the same time and in the same general area as two cutaneous cases and several other exposures. The AMI letter which caused inhalation cases in Florida appears to have been mailed at the same time as the other media letters. The fine powder anthrax sent to the senators mostly caused the more dangerous form of infection known as inhalational anthrax (8 out of 10 cases). Postal worker Patrick O'Donnell and accountant Linda Burch contracted cutaneous anthrax from the Senate letters.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material
All of the material was derived from the same bacterial strain known as the Ames strain. The Ames strain was a common strain isolated from a cow in Texas in 1981. The name "Ames" refers to the town of Ames, Iowa, but was mistakenly attached to this isolate in 1981 because of a mixup about the mailing label on a package. First researched at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Fort Detrick, Maryland, the Ames strain was then distributed to sixteen bio-research labs within the U.S. and three other locations (Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom).


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material
DNA sequencing of the anthrax taken from Robert Stevens (the first victim) was conducted at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) beginning in December 2001. Sequencing was finished within a month and the analysis was published in the journal Science in early 2002.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material
Radiocarbon dating conducted by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in June 2002 established that the anthrax was cultured no more than two years before the mailings.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Mutations
Early in 2002, it was noted that there were variants or mutations in the anthrax cultures that were grown from powder found in the letters. Scientists at TIGR sequenced the complete genomes from many of these isolates during the period from 2002 to 2004. This sequencing identified three relatively large changes in some of the isolates, each comprising a region of DNA that had been duplicated or triplicated. The size of these regions ranged from 823 bp to 2607 bp, and all occurred near the same genes.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Mutations
Details of these mutations were published in 2011 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. These changes became the basis of PCR assays used to test other samples to find any that contained the same mutations. The assays were validated over the many years of the investigation, and the repository of Ames samples was also being built. From roughly 2003 to 2006 the repository and the screening of the 1,070 Ames samples in that repository were completed.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Mutations
Based on the testing, the FBI concluded that  was the parent material of the anthrax spore powder. Ivins had sole control over that flask.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives
On October 24, 2001, USAMRIID scientist Peter Jahrling was summoned to the White House after he reported signs that silicon had been added to anthrax recovered from the letter addressed to Daschle. Silicon would make the anthrax more capable of penetrating the lungs. Seven years later, Jahrling told the Los Angeles Times on September 17, 2008, "I believe I made an honest mistake", adding that he had been "overly impressed" by what he thought he saw under the microscope.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives
Richard Preston's book provides details of conversations and events at USAMRIID during the period from October 16, 2001, to October 25, 2001. Key scientists described to Preston what they were thinking during that period. When the Daschle spores first arrived at USAMRIID, the key concern was that smallpox viruses might be mixed with the spores. "Jahrling met [John] Ezzell in a hallway and said, in a loud voice, 'Goddamn it, John, we need to know if the powder is laced with smallpox.'" Thus, the initial search was for signs of smallpox viruses.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives
On October 16, USAMRIID scientists began by examining spores that had been "in a milky white liquid" from "a field test done by the FBI's Hazardous Materials Response Unit". Liquid chemicals were then used to deactivate the spores. When scientists turned up the power on the electron beam of the Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), "The spores began to ooze." According to Preston,


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives
"Whoa," Jahrling muttered, hunched over the eyepieces. Something was boiling off the spores. "This is clearly bad stuff," he said. This was not your mother's anthrax. The spores had something in them, an additive, perhaps. Could this material have come from a national bioweapons program? From Iraq? Did al-Qaeda have anthrax capability that was this good?


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives
On October 25, 2001, the day after senior officials at the White House were informed that "additives" had been found in the anthrax, USAMRIID scientist Tom Geisbert took a different, irradiated sample of the Daschle anthrax to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) to "find out if the powder contained any metals or elements". AFIP's energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer reportedly indicated "that there were two extra elements in the spores: silicon and oxygen. Silicon dioxide is glass. The anthrax terrorist or terrorists had put powdered glass, or silica, into the anthrax. The silica was powdered so finely that under Geisbert's electron microscope it had looked like fried-egg gunk dripping off the spores."


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives
The "goop" Peter Jahrling had seen oozing from the spores was not seen when AFIP examined different spores killed with radiation.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives
The controversy began the day after the White House meeting. The New York Times reported, "Contradicting Some U.S. Officials, 3 Scientists Call Anthrax Powder High-Grade – Two Experts say the anthrax was altered to produce a more deadly weapon", and The Washington Post reported, "Additive Made Spores Deadlier". Countless news stories discussed the "additives" for the next eight years, continuing into 2010.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives
Later, the FBI claimed a "lone individual" could have created the anthrax spores for as little as $2,500, using readily available laboratory equipment.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives
A number of press reports appeared suggesting the Senate anthrax had coatings and additives. Newsweek reported the anthrax sent to Senator Leahy had been coated with a chemical compound previously unknown to bioweapons experts. On October 28, 2002, The Washington Post reported, "FBI's Theory on Anthrax is Doubted" suggesting that the senate spores were coated with fumed silica. Two bioweapons experts that were utilized as consultants by the FBI, Kenneth Alibek and Matthew Meselson, were shown electron micrographs of the anthrax from the Daschle letter. In a November 5, 2002 letter to the editors of The Washington Post, they stated that they saw no evidence the anthrax spores had been coated with fumed silica.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives
A November 28, 2003, article in Science magazine suggests that the senate anthrax "was a diabolical advance in biological weapons technology". The article describes "a technique used to anchor silica nanoparticles to the surface of spores" using "polymerized glass". According to Stuart Jacobsen, "polymerized glass" is "a silane or siloxane compound that's been dissolved in an alcohol-based solvent like ethanol". It leaves a thin glassy coating that helps bind the silica to particle surfaces.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives
An August 2006 article in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, written by Douglas Beecher of the FBI labs in Quantico, Virginia, states "Individuals familiar with the compositions of the powders in the letters have indicated that they were comprised simply of spores purified to different extents." The article also specifically criticizes "a widely circulated misconception" "that the spores were produced using additives and sophisticated engineering supposedly akin to military weapon production". The harm done by this misconception is described this way: "This idea is usually the basis for implying that the powders were inordinately dangerous compared to spores alone. The persistent credence given to this impression fosters erroneous preconceptions, which may misguide research and preparedness efforts and generally detract from the magnitude of hazards posed by simple spore preparations." Critics of the article complained that it did not provide supporting references.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives, False report of bentonite
In late October 2001, ABC chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross linked the anthrax sample to Saddam Hussein because of its purportedly containing the unusual additive bentonite. On October 26, Ross said, "sources tell ABCNEWS the anthrax in the tainted letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle was laced with bentonite. The potent additive is known to have been used by only one country in producing biochemical weapons—Iraq. ... [I]t is a trademark of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's biological weapons program ... The discovery of bentonite came in an urgent series of tests conducted at Fort Detrick, Maryland, and elsewhere."


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives, False report of bentonite
On October 28, Ross said that "despite continued White House denials, four well-placed and separate sources have told ABC News that initial tests on the anthrax by the U.S. Army at Fort Detrick, Maryland, have detected trace amounts of the chemical additives bentonite and silica", a charge that was repeated several times on October 28 and 29.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives, False report of bentonite
On October 29, 2001, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel "disputed reports that the anthrax sent to the Senate contained bentonite, an additive that ha[d] been used in Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's biological weapons program". Stanzel said, "Based on the test results we have, no bentonite has been found". The same day, Major General John Parker at a White House briefing stated, "We do know that we found silica in the samples. Now, we don't know what that motive would be, or why it would be there, or anything. But there is silica in the samples.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives, False report of bentonite
And that led us to be absolutely sure that there was no aluminum in the sample, because the combination of a silicate, plus aluminum, is sort of the major ingredients of bentonite." Just over a week later, Homeland Security Advisor Tom Ridge in a White House press conference on November 7, 2001, stated, "The ingredient that we talked about before was silicon." Neither Ross at ABC nor anyone else publicly pursued any further claims about bentonite, despite Ross's original claim that "four well-placed and separate sources" had confirmed its detection.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives, Dispute over silicon content
Some of the anthrax spores (65–75%) in the anthrax attack letters contained silicon inside their spore coats. Silicon was even reportedly found inside the natural spore coat of a spore that was still inside the "mother germ", which was asserted to confirm that the element was not added after the spores were formed and purified, i.e., the spores were not "weaponized".


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives, Dispute over silicon content
In 2010, a Japanese study reported, "silicon (Si) is considered to be a "quasiessential" element for most living organisms. However, silicate uptake in bacteria and its physiological functions have remained obscure." The study showed that spores from some species can contain as much as 6.3% dry weight of silicates. "For more than 20 years, significant levels of silicon had been reported in spores of at least some Bacillus species, including those of Bacillus cereus, a close relative of B. anthracis." According to spore expert Peter Setlow, "Since silicate accumulation in other organisms can impart structural rigidity, perhaps silicate plays such a role for spores as well."


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives, Dispute over silicon content
The FBI lab concluded that 1.4% of the powder in the Leahy letter was silicon. Stuart Jacobson, a small-particle chemistry expert stated that:


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives, Dispute over silicon content
This is a shockingly high proportion [of silicon]. It is a number one would expect from the deliberate weaponization of anthrax, but not from any conceivable accidental contamination.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives, Dispute over silicon content
Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Labs conducted experiments in an attempt to determine if the amount of silicon in the growth medium was the controlling factor which caused silicon to accumulate inside a spore's natural coat. The Livermore scientists tried 56 different experiments, adding increasingly high amounts of silicon to the media. All of their results were far below the 1.4% level of the attack anthrax, some as low as .001%. The conclusion was that something other than the level of silicon controlled how much silicon was absorbed by the spores.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives, Dispute over silicon content
Richard O. Spertzel, a microbiologist who led the United Nations' biological weapons inspections of Iraq, wrote that the anthrax used could not have come from the lab where Ivins worked. Spertzel said he remained skeptical of the Bureau's argument despite the new evidence presented on August 18, 2008, in an unusual FBI briefing for reporters. He questioned the FBI's claim that the powder was less than military grade, in part because of the presence of high levels of silica. The FBI had been unable to reproduce the attack spores with the high levels of silica.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives, Dispute over silicon content
The FBI attributed the presence of high silica levels to "natural variability". This conclusion of the FBI contradicted its statements at an earlier point in the investigation, when the FBI had stated, based on the silicon content, that the anthrax was "weaponized", a step that made the powder more airy and required special scientific know-how.


2001 anthrax attacks, Anthrax material, Controversy over coatings and additives, Dispute over silicon content
"If there is that much silicon, it had to have been added," stated Jeffrey Adamovicz, who supervised Ivins's work at Fort Detrick. Adamovicz explained that the silicon in the anthrax attack could have been added via a large fermentor, which Battelle and some other facilities use but "we did not use a fermentor to grow anthrax at USAMRIID ... [ and] We did not have the capability to add silicon compounds to anthrax spores." Ivins had neither the skills nor the means to attach silicon to anthrax spores. Richard Spertzel explained that the Fort Detrick facility did not handle anthrax in powdered form. "I don't think there's anyone there who would have the foggiest idea how to do it."


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation
Authorities traveled to six continents, interviewed over 9,000 people, conducted 67 searches and issued over 6,000 subpoenas. "Hundreds of FBI personnel worked the case at the outset, struggling to discern whether the Sept. 11 al-Qaeda attacks and the anthrax murders were connected before eventually concluding that they were not." In September 2006, there were still 17 FBI agents and 10 postal inspectors assigned to the case, including FBI Special Agent C. Frank Figliuzzi who was the on-scene commander of the evidence recovery efforts.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Anthrax archive destroyed
The FBI and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) both gave permission for Iowa State University to destroy the Iowa anthrax archive and the archive was destroyed on October 10 and 11, 2001.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Anthrax archive destroyed
The FBI and CDC investigation was hampered by the destruction of a large collection of anthrax spores collected over more than seven decades and kept in more than 100 vials at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. Many scientists claim that the quick destruction of the anthrax spores collection in Iowa eliminated crucial evidence useful for the investigation. A precise match between the strain of anthrax used in the attacks and a strain in the collection would have offered hints as to when bacteria had been isolated and, perhaps, as to how widely it had been distributed to researchers. Such genetic clues could have given investigators the evidence necessary to identify the perpetrators.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Al-Qaeda and Iraq blamed for attacks
Immediately after the anthrax attacks, White House officials pressured FBI Director Robert Mueller to publicly blame them on al-Qaeda following the September 11 attacks. During the president's morning intelligence briefings, Mueller was "beaten up" for not producing proof that the killer spores were the handiwork of Osama Bin Laden, according to a former aide. "They really wanted to blame somebody in the Middle East," the retired senior FBI official stated. The FBI knew early on that the anthrax used was of a consistency requiring sophisticated equipment and was unlikely to have been produced in "some cave".


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Al-Qaeda and Iraq blamed for attacks
At the same time, President Bush and Vice President Cheney in public statements speculated about the possibility of a link between the anthrax attacks and Al Qaeda. The Guardian reported in early October that American scientists had implicated Iraq as the source of the anthrax, and the next day The Wall Street Journal editorialized that Al Qaeda perpetrated the mailings, with Iraq the source of the anthrax.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Al-Qaeda and Iraq blamed for attacks
A few days later, John McCain suggested on the Late Show with David Letterman that the anthrax may have come from Iraq, and the next week ABC News did a series of reports stating that three or four (depending on the report) sources had identified bentonite as an ingredient in the anthrax preparations, implicating Iraq.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Al-Qaeda and Iraq blamed for attacks
Statements by the White House and public officials quickly proved that there was no bentonite in the attack anthrax. "No tests ever found or even suggested the presence of bentonite. The claim was just concocted from the start. It just never happened." Nonetheless, a few conservative journalists repeated ABC's bentonite report for several years, even after the invasion of Iraq proved there was no involvement.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, "Person of interest"
Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, a molecular biologist at the State University of New York at Purchase and chairwoman of a biological weapons panel at the Federation of American Scientists, and others began claiming that the attack might be the work of a "rogue CIA agent" in October 2001, as soon as it became known that the Ames strain of anthrax had been used in the attacks, and she told the FBI the name of the "most likely" person. On November 21, 2001, she made similar statements to the Biological and Toxic Weapons convention in Geneva.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, "Person of interest"
In December 2001, she published "A Compilation of Evidence and Comments on the Source of the Mailed Anthrax" via the web site of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) claiming that the attacks were "perpetrated with the unwitting assistance of a sophisticated government program". She discussed the case with reporters from The New York Times. On January 4, 2002, Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times published a column titled "Profile of a Killer" stating "I think I know who sent out the anthrax last fall."


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, "Person of interest"
For months, Rosenberg gave speeches and stated her beliefs to many reporters from around the world. She posted "Analysis of the Anthrax Attacks" to the FAS web site on January 17, 2002. On February 5, 2002, she published "Is the FBI Dragging Its Feet?" In response, the FBI stated, "There is no prime suspect in this case at this time". The Washington Post reported, "FBI officials over the last week have flatly discounted Dr. Rosenberg's claims". On June 13, 2002, Rosenberg posted "The Anthrax Case: What the FBI Knows" to the FAS site.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, "Person of interest"
On June 18, 2002, she presented her theories to senate staffers working for Senators Daschle and Leahy. On June 25, the FBI publicly searched Hatfill's apartment, and he became a household name. "The FBI also pointed out that Hatfill had agreed to the search and is not considered a suspect." American Prospect and Salon.com reported, "Hatfill is not a suspect in the anthrax case, the FBI says." On August 3, 2002, Rosenberg told the media that the FBI asked her if "a team of government scientists could be trying to frame Steven J. Hatfill".


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, "Person of interest"
In August 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft labeled Steven Hatfill a "person of interest" in a press conference, though no charges were brought against him. Hatfill is a virologist, and he vehemently denied that he had anything to do with the anthrax mailings and sued the FBI, the Justice Department, Ashcroft, Alberto Gonzales, and others for violating his constitutional rights and for violating the Privacy Act. On June 27, 2008, the Department of Justice announced that it would settle Hatfill's case for $5.8 million.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, "Person of interest"
Hatfill also sued The New York Times and its columnist Nicholas D. Kristof, as well as Donald Foster, Vanity Fair, Reader's Digest, and Vassar College for defamation. The case against The New York Times was initially dismissed, but it was reinstated on appeal. The dismissal was upheld by the appeals court on July 14, 2008, on the basis that Hatfill was a public figure and malice had not been proven. The Supreme Court rejected an appeal on December 15, 2008. Hatfill's lawsuits against Vanity Fair and Reader's Digest were settled out of court in February 2007, but no details were made public. The statement released by Hatfill's lawyers  said, "Dr. Hatfill's lawsuit has now been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of all the parties".


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins
Bruce E. Ivins had worked for 18 years at the government's bio defense labs at Fort Detrick and was a top biodefense researcher. The Associated Press reported on August 1, 2008 that he had apparently committed suicide at the age of 62. It was widely reported that the FBI was about to press charges against him, but the evidence was largely circumstantial and the grand jury in Washington reported that it was not ready to issue an indictment.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins
Rush D. Holt Jr. represented the district where the anthrax letters were mailed, and he said that circumstantial evidence was not enough and asked FBI director Robert S. Mueller to appear before Congress to provide an account of the investigation. Ivins's death left two unanswered questions. Scientists familiar with germ warfare said that there was no evidence that he had the skills to turn anthrax into an inhalable powder. Alan Zelicoff aided the FBI investigation, and he stated: "I don't think a vaccine specialist could do it…. This is aerosol physics, not biology".


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins
W. Russell Byrne worked in the bacteriology division of the Fort Detrick research facility. He said that Ivins was "hounded" by FBI agents who raided his home twice, and he was hospitalized for depression during that time. According to Byrne and local police, Ivins was removed from his workplace out of fears that he might harm himself or others. "I think he was just psychologically exhausted by the whole process," Byrne said. "There are people who you just know are ticking bombs. He was not one of them."


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins
On August 6, 2008, federal prosecutors declared Ivins the sole perpetrator of the crime when US Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor laid out the case to the public. "The genetically unique parent material of the anthrax spores... was created and solely maintained by Dr. Ivins." But other experts disagreed, including biological warfare and anthrax expert Meryl Nass, who stated: "Let me reiterate: no matter how good the microbial forensics may be, they can only, at best, link the anthrax to a particular strain and lab. They cannot link it to any individual."


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins
At least 10 scientists had regular access to the laboratory and its anthrax stock, and possibly quite a few more, counting visitors from other institutions and workers at laboratories in Ohio and New Mexico that had received anthrax samples from the flask. The FBI later claimed to have identified 419 people at Fort Detrick and other locations who had access to the lab where flask RMR-1029 was stored, or who had received samples from flask RMR-1029.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins, Mental health issues
Ivins told a mental health counselor more than a year before the anthrax attacks that he was interested in a young woman who lived out of town and that he had "mixed poison" which he took with him when he went to watch her play in a soccer match. "If she lost, he was going to poison her," said the counselor, who treated Ivins at a Frederick clinic four or five times in mid-2000. She said that Ivins emphasized that he was a skillful scientist who "knew how to do things without people finding out".


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins, Mental health issues
The counselor was so alarmed by his emotionless description of a specific, homicidal plan that she immediately alerted the head of her clinic and a psychiatrist who had treated Ivins, as well as the Frederick Police Department. She said that the police told her that nothing could be done because she did not have the woman's address or last name.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins, Mental health issues
In 2008, Ivins told a different therapist that he planned to kill his co-workers and "go out in a blaze of glory". That therapist stated in an application for a restraining order that Ivins had a "history dating to his graduate days of homicidal threats, actions, plans, threats and actions towards therapists". Dr. David Irwin, his psychiatrist, called him "homicidal, sociopathic with clear intentions."


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins, Evidence of consciousness of guilt
According to the report on the Amerithrax investigation published by the Department of Justice, Ivins engaged in actions and made statements that indicated a consciousness of guilt. He took environmental samples in his laboratory without authorization and decontaminated areas in which he had worked without reporting his activities. He also threw away a book about secret codes, which described methods similar to those used in the anthrax letters. Ivins threatened other scientists, made equivocal statements about his possible involvement in a conversation with an acquaintance, and put together outlandish theories in an effort to shift the blame for the anthrax mailings to people close to him.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins, Evidence of consciousness of guilt
The FBI said that Ivins's justifications for his actions after the environmental sampling, as well as his explanations for a subsequent sampling, contradicted his explanation for the motives for the sampling.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins, Evidence of consciousness of guilt
According to the Department of Justice, flask RMR-1029, which was created and controlled by Ivins, was used to create "the murder weapon".


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins, Evidence of consciousness of guilt
In 2002, researchers did not believe it was possible to distinguish between anthrax variants. In January 2002, Ivins suggested that DNA sequencing should show differences in the genetics of anthrax mutations which would allow the source to be identified. Despite researchers advising the FBI that this may not have been possible, Ivins tutored agents on how to recognize them. Considered cutting edge at the time, this technique is now commonplace. In February 2002, Ivins volunteered to provide samples from several variants of the Ames strain in order to compare their morphs.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins, Evidence of consciousness of guilt
He submitted two test tube "slants" each from four samples of the Ames strain in his collection. Two of the slants were from flask RMR-1029. Although the slants from flask RMR-1029 were later reported to be a positive match, all eight slants were reportedly in the wrong type of test tube and would therefore not be usable as evidence in court. On March 29, 2002, Ivins's boss instructed Ivins and others in suites B3 and B4 on how to properly prepare slants for the FBI Repository. The subpoena also included instructions on the proper way to prepare slants. When Ivins was told that his February samples did not meet FBIR requirements, he prepared eight new slants. The two new slants prepared from flask RMR-1029 submitted in April by Ivins did not contain the mutations that were later determined to be in flask RMR-1029.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins, Evidence of consciousness of guilt
It was reported that in April 2004, Henry Heine found a test tube in the lab containing anthrax and contacted Ivins. In an email sent in reply, Ivins reportedly told him it was probably RMR-1029 and for Heine to forward a sample to the FBI. Doubts regarding the reliability of the FBI tests were later raised when the FBI tested Heine's sample and a further one from Heine's test tube: one tested negative and one positive.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins, Evidence of consciousness of guilt
A DOJ summary report of February 19, 2010, said that "the evidence suggested that Dr. Ivins obstructed the investigation either by providing a submission which was not in compliance with the subpoena, or worse, that he deliberately submitted a false sample." Records released under the Freedom of Information Act in 2011 show that Ivins provided four sets of samples from 2002 to 2004, twice the number the FBI reported. Three of the four sets tested positive for the morphs.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins, Evidence of consciousness of guilt
The FBI said that "At a group therapy session on July 9, 2008, Dr. Ivins was particularly upset. He revealed to the counselor and psychologist leading the group, and other members of the group, that he was a suspect in the anthrax investigation and that he was angry at the investigators, the government, and the system in general. He said he was not going to face the death penalty, but instead had a plan to 'take out' co-workers and other individuals who had wronged him.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins, Evidence of consciousness of guilt
He noted that it was possible, with a plan, to commit murder and not make a mess. He stated that he had a bullet-proof vest, and a list of co-workers who had wronged him, and said that he was going to obtain a Glock firearm from his son within the next day, because federal agents were watching him and he could not obtain a weapon on his own. He added that he was going to 'go out in a blaze of glory.'"


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Bruce Edwards Ivins, Evidence of consciousness of guilt
While in a mental hospital, Ivins made menacing phone calls to his social worker Jean Duley on July 11 and 12.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Alleged hidden texts
In the letters sent to the media, the characters 'A' and 'T' were sometimes bolded or highlighted by tracing over, according to the FBI suggesting that the letters contained a hidden code.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Alleged hidden texts
Some believe the letters to the New York Post and Tom Brokaw contained a "hidden message" in such highlighted characters. Below is the media text with the highlighted As and Ts:


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Alleged hidden texts
According to the FBI, Summary Report issued on February 19, 2010, following the search of Ivins's home, cars, and office on November 1, 2007, investigators began examining his trash. A week later, just after 1:00 a.m. on the morning of November 8, the FBI stated that Ivins was observed throwing away "a copy of a book entitled Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, published by Douglas Hofstadter in 1979" and "a 1992 issue of American Scientist Journal which contained an article entitled 'The Linguistics of DNA,' and discussed, among other things, codons and hidden messages".


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Alleged hidden texts
The book Gödel, Escher, Bach contains a lengthy description of the encoding/decoding procedures, including an illustration of hiding a message within a message by bolding certain characters. According to the FBI Summary Report, "[w]hen they lifted out just the bolded letters, investigators got TTT AAT TAT – an apparent hidden message". The 3-letter groups are codons, "meaning that each sequence of three nucleic acids will code for a specific amino acid".


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Alleged hidden texts
The FBI Summary Report proceeds to say: "From this analysis, two possible hidden meanings emerged: (1) 'FNY' – a verbal assault on New York, and (2) PAT – the nickname of [Dr. Ivins's] Former Colleague #2." Ivins was known to have a dislike for New York City, and four of the media letters had been sent to New York.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Alleged hidden texts
The report states that it "was obviously impossible for the Task Force to determine with certainty that either of these two translations was correct", however, "the key point to the investigative analysis is that there is a hidden message, not so much what that message is". According to the FBI, Ivins showed a fascination with codes and also had an interest in secrets and hidden messages, and was familiar with biochemical codons.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Alleged hidden texts, Ivins's "non-denial" denials
Experts have suggested that the anthrax mailings included a number of indications that the mailer was trying to avoid harming anyone with his warning letters.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Alleged hidden texts, Ivins's "non-denial" denials
In June 2008, Ivins was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital. The FBI stated that during a June 5 group therapy session there, Ivins had a conversation with an unnamed witness, during which he made a series of statements about the anthrax mailings that the FBI said could best be characterized as "non-denial denials". When asked about the anthrax attacks and whether he could have had anything to do with them, the FBI said that Ivins admitted he suffered from loss of memory, stating that he would wake up dressed and wonder if he had gone out during the night. Some of his responses allegedly included the following selected quotes:


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Alleged hidden texts, Ivins's "non-denial" denials
In an interview with a confidential human resource (CHR) which took place on January 8, 2008, the FBI said that the CHR told FBI agents that since Ivins's last interview with the FBI (on November 1, 2007), Ivins had "on occasion spontaneously declared at work, 'I could never intentionally kill or hurt someone'".


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
After the FBI announced that Ivins acted alone, many people with a broad range of political views, some of whom were colleagues of Ivins, expressed doubts. Reasons cited for these doubts include that Ivins was only one of 100 people who could have worked with the vial used in the attacks and that the FBI couldn't place him near the New Jersey mailbox from which the anthrax was mailed. The FBI's own genetic consultant, Claire Fraser-Ligget, stated that the failure to find any anthrax spores in Ivins's house, vehicle or on any of his belongings seriously undermined the case.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
Noting unanswered questions about the FBI's scientific tests and lack of peer review, Jeffrey Adamovicz, one of Ivins's supervisors in USAMRIID's bacteriology division, stated, "I'd say the vast majority of people [at Fort Detrick] think he had nothing to do with it." More than 200 colleagues attended his memorial service following his death.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
Alternative theories proposed include FBI incompetence, that Syria or Iraq directed the attacks, or that similar to some 9/11 conspiracy theories the US government knew in advance that the attacks would occur. Senator Patrick Leahy who is Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and who had received an anthrax-tainted letter, said the FBI has not produced convincing evidence in the case. The Washington Post called for an independent investigation in the case saying that reporters and scientists were poking holes in the case.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
Had both attacks on the senators succeeded in killing their targets, the result would have been a Republican majority in the Senate, in the immediate future because of the loss of two Democrats, and in the long term as the governors of the targets' states would have been likely to name Republican replacements. This suggests that right-wing extremists had an incentive to carry out the attacks.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
On September 17, 2008, Senator Patrick Leahy told FBI Director Robert Mueller during testimony before the Judiciary Committee which Leahy chairs, that he did not believe Army scientist Bruce Ivins acted alone in the 2001 anthrax attacks, stating:


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
I believe there are others involved, either as accessories before or accessories after the fact. I believe that there are others out there. I believe there are others who could be charged with murder.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
Tom Daschle, the other Democratic senator targeted, believes Ivins was the sole culprit.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
Although the FBI matched the genetic origin of the attack spores to the spores in Ivins's flask RMR-1029, the spores within that flask did not have the same silicon chemical "fingerprint" as the spores in the attack letters. The implication is that spores taken out of flask RMR-1029 had been used to grow new spores for the mailings.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
On April 22, 2010, the U.S. National Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences, convened a review committee that heard testimony from Henry Heine, a microbiologist who was formerly employed at the Army's biodefense laboratory in Maryland where Ivins had worked. Heine told the panel that it was impossible that the deadly spores had been produced undetected in Ivins's laboratory, as maintained by the FBI.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
He testified that at least a year of intensive work would have been required using the equipment at the army lab to produce the quantity of spores contained in the letters and that such an intensive effort could not have escaped the attention of colleagues. Heine also told the panel that lab technicians who worked closely with Ivins have told him they saw no such work. He stated further that biological containment measures where Ivins worked were inadequate to prevent Anthrax spores from floating out of the laboratory into animal cages and offices.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
"You'd have had dead animals or dead people," Heine said. According to Science Magazine, "Heine caveated his remarks by saying that he himself had no experience making anthrax stocks." Science magazine provides additional comments by Adam Driks of Loyola who stated that the amount of anthrax in the letters could be made in "a number of days". Emails by Ivins state, "We can presently make 1 X 10^12 [one trillion] spores per week." And The New York Times reported on May 7, 2002, that the Leahy letter contained .871 grams of anthrax powder [equivalent to 871 billion spores]


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
In a technical article to be published in the Journal of Bioterrorism & Biodefense in 2011, three scientists argued that the preparation of the spores did require a high level of sophistication, contrary to the position taken by federal authorities that the material would have been unsophisticated. The paper is largely based on the high level of tin detected in tests of the mailed anthrax, and the tin may have been used to encapsulate the spores, which required processing not possible in laboratories to which Ivins had access.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
According to the scientific article, this raises the possibility that Ivins was not the perpetrator or did not act alone. Earlier in the investigation, the FBI had named tin as a substance "of interest" but the final report makes no mention of it and fails to address the high tin content. The chairwoman of the National Academy of Science panel that reviewed the FBI's scientific work and the director of a separate review by the Government Accountability Office said that the issues raised by the paper should be addressed.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
Other scientists, such as Johnathan L. Kiel, a retired Air Force scientist who worked on anthrax for many years, did not agree with the authors' assessments — saying that the tin might be a random contaminant rather than a clue to complex processing. Kiel said that tin might simply be picked up by the spores as a result of the use of metal lab containers, although he had not tested that idea.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
In 2011, the chief of the Bacteriology Division at the Army laboratory, Patricia Worsham, said it lacked the facilities in 2001 to make the kind of spores in the letters. In 2011, the government conceded that the equipment required was not available in the lab, calling into question a key pillar of the FBI's case, that Ivins had produced the anthrax in his lab. According to Worsham, the lab's equipment for drying spores, a machine the size of a refrigerator, was not in containment so that it would be expected that non-immunized personnel in that area would have become ill. Colleagues of Ivins at the lab have asserted that he couldn't have grown the quantity of anthrax used in the letters without their noticing it.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Doubts about FBI conclusions
A spokesman for the Justice Department said that the investigators continue to believe that Ivins acted alone.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Congressional oversight
Congressman Rush Holt, whose district in New Jersey includes a mailbox from which anthrax letters are believed to have been mailed, called for an investigation of the anthrax attacks by Congress or by an independent commission he proposed in a bill entitled the Anthrax Attacks Investigation Act (H.R. 1248) Other members of Congress have also called for an independent investigation.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Congressional oversight
An official of the U.S. administration said in March 2010 that President Barack Obama probably would veto legislation authorizing the next budget for U.S. intelligence agencies if it called for a new investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks, as such an investigation "would undermine public confidence" in an FBI probe.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, Congressional oversight
In a letter to congressional leaders, Peter Orszag, the director of the Office of Management and Budget at the time, wrote that an investigation would be "duplicative", and expressed concern about the appearance and precedent involved when Congress commissions an agency Inspector General to replicate a criminal investigation, but did not list the anthrax investigation as an issue that was serious enough to advise the President to veto the entire bill.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, National Academy of Sciences review
In what appears to have been a response to lingering skepticism, on September 16, 2008, the FBI asked the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct an independent review of the scientific evidence that led the agency to implicate U.S. Army researcher Bruce Ivins in the anthrax letter attacks of 2001. However, despite taking this action, Director Mueller said that the scientific methods applied in the investigation had already been vetted by the research community through the involvement of several dozen nonagency scientists.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, National Academy of Sciences review
The NAS review officially got underway on April 24, 2009. While the scope of the project included the consideration of facts and data surrounding the investigation of the 2001 Bacillus anthracis mailings, as well as a review of the principles and methods used by the FBI, the NAS committee was not given the task to "undertake an assessment of the probative value of the scientific evidence in any specific component of the investigation, prosecution, or civil litigation", nor to offer any view on the guilt or innocence of any of the involved people.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, National Academy of Sciences review
In mid-2009, the NAS committee held public sessions, in which presentations were made by scientists, including scientists from the FBI laboratories. In September 2009, scientists, including Paul Keim of Northern Arizona University, Joseph Michael of Sandia National Laboratory and Peter Weber of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, presented their findings. In one of the presentations, scientists reported that they did not find any silica particles on the outside of the spores (i.e., there was no "weaponization"), and that only some of the spores in the anthrax letters contained silicon inside their spore coats. One of the spores was still inside the "mother germ", yet it already had silicon inside its spore coat.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, National Academy of Sciences review
In October 2010, the FBI submitted materials to NAS that it had not previously provided. Included in the new materials were results of analyses performed on environmental samples collected from an overseas site. Those analyses yielded evidence of the Ames strain in some samples. NAS recommended a review of those investigations.


2001 anthrax attacks, Investigation, National Academy of Sciences review
The NAS committee released its report on February 15, 2011, concluding that it was "impossible to reach any definitive conclusion about the origins of the anthrax in the letters, based solely on the available scientific evidence". The report also challenged the FBI and U.S. Justice Department's conclusion that a single-spore batch of anthrax maintained by Ivins at his laboratory at Fort Detrick in Maryland was the parent material for the spores in the anthrax letters.


2001 anthrax attacks, Aftermath, Contamination and cleanup
Dozens of buildings were contaminated with anthrax as a result of the mailings. The companies in charge of the clean up and decontaminating of buildings in New York City, including ABC Headquarters and a midtown Manhattan building that was part of the Rockefeller Center and was home to the New York Post and Fox News, were Bio Recovery Corporation of Woodside, New York and Bio-Recovery Services of America, based in Ohio. Bio Recovery provided the labor and equipment, such as HEPA filtered negative pressure air scrubbers, HEPA vacuums, respirators, cyclone foggers, and decontamination foam licensed by the Sandia National Laboratories. Ninety-three bags of anthrax-contaminated mail were removed from the New York Post alone.


2001 anthrax attacks, Aftermath, Contamination and cleanup
The decontamination of the Brentwood postal facility took 26 months and cost $130 million. The Hamilton, New Jersey postal facility remained closed until March 2005; its cleanup cost $65 million.


2001 anthrax attacks, Aftermath, Contamination and cleanup
The United States Environmental Protection Agency led the collaborative effort to clean up the Hart Senate Office Building, where Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office was located, as well as the Ford Office Building and several other locations around the capitol. It used $27 million of its funds for its Superfund program on the Capitol Hill anthrax cleanup. One FBI document said the total damage exceeded $1 billion.


2001 anthrax attacks, Aftermath, Preparedness and research
The anthrax attacks, as well as the September 11, 2001, attacks, spurred significant increases in U.S. government funding for biological warfare research and preparedness. For example, biowarfare-related funding at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) increased by $1.5 billion in 2003. In 2004, Congress passed the Project Bioshield Act, which provides $5.6 billion over ten years for the purchase of new vaccines and drugs. These vaccines included the monoclonal antibody Raxibacumab, which treats anthrax as well as an Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed, both of which are stockpiled by the US government.


2001 anthrax attacks, Aftermath, Preparedness and research
Immediately after 9/11, well before the mailing of any of the letters involved in the anthrax attacks, the White House prudently began distributing  Cipro, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of inhalational anthrax, to senior staffers.


2001 anthrax attacks, Aftermath, Preparedness and research
Cipro manufacturer Bayer pharmaceuticals agreed to provide the United States with 100,000 doses of (Ciprofloxacin) for $.95 per dose, a cut in the price from $1.74. The Canadian government had previously overridden the Bayer patent, and the US was threatening the same measure if Bayer did not agree to negotiate the price. Shortly afterward, it was recommended that doxycycline was a more appropriate drug to treat anthrax exposure. A widened use of the broad-spectrum antibiotic Ciprofloxacin had also raised serious concerns amongst scientists about the creation and increased spread of drug-resistant bacteria strains. Numerous corporations offered to supply drugs for free, contingent on the Food and Drug Administration approving their products for anthrax treatment. They included Bristol Myers Squibb (Gatifloxacin), Johnson and Johnson (Levofloxacin) and GlaxoSmithKline (two drugs). Eli Lilly and Pfizer also offered to provide drugs at cost.


2001 anthrax attacks, Aftermath, U.S. mail crackdowns
The attack led to the widespread confiscation and curtailment of US Mail, especially to US media companies: "checks, bills, letters, and packages simply stopped arriving. For many people and businesses that had resisted the cultural shift to e-mail, this was the moment that pushed them online."


2001 anthrax attacks, Aftermath, Policy
After the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent anthrax mailings, lawmakers were pressed for legislation to combat further terrorist acts. Under heavy pressure from then Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, a bipartisan compromise in the House Judiciary Committee allowed legislation for the Patriot Act to move forward for full consideration later that month.


2001 anthrax attacks, Aftermath, Policy
A theory that Iraq was behind the attacks, based upon purported evidence that the powder was weaponized and some reports of alleged meetings between 9/11 conspirators and Iraqi officials, may have contributed to the hysteria which ultimately enabled the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.


2001 anthrax attacks, Aftermath, Adverse health effects
Years after the attack, several anthrax victims reported lingering health problems including fatigue, shortness of breath and memory loss.


2001 anthrax attacks, Aftermath, Adverse health effects
A 2004 study proposed that the total number of people harmed by the anthrax attacks of 2001 should be raised to 68.


2001 anthrax attacks, Aftermath, Adverse health effects
A postal inspector, William Paliscak, became severely ill and disabled after removing an anthrax-contaminated air filter from the Brentwood mail facility on October 19, 2001. Although his doctors, Tyler Cymet and Gary Kerkvliet, believe that the illness was caused by anthrax exposure, blood tests did not find anthrax bacteria or antibodies, and therefore the CDC does not recognize it as a case of inhalational anthrax.


2001 anthrax attacks, Media, Television
The case has been referenced on the police procedure crime drama Criminal Minds.


2001 anthrax attacks, Media, Television
The second season of the National Geographic TV series The Hot Zone will focus on the attack.


2001 bomb plot in Europe
In 2001, a network of interconnected terrorist cells in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands was uncovered by law enforcement. The network had connections to al-Qaeda and was planning to commit one or more bombings.


2001 bomb plot in Europe, Plot
Three cells were involved: one in Rotterdam, one in Brussels, and one in a suburb of Paris. According to Djamel Beghal, Nizar Trabelsi planned to strap a bomb onto himself, cover it up with a business suit, and then detonate the bomb along with himself in the U.S. Embassy in Paris. Concurrently, a van packed with explosives would be detonated outside a U.S. cultural centre at the nearby Place de la Madeleine. Trabelsi denied this, but admitted that he had planned to commit a suicide bombing by detonating a car bomb next to the canteen at Kleine Brogel Air Base in Belgium. Trabelsi also said that he had met Osama bin Laden and personally requested to become a suicide bomber.


2001 bomb plot in Europe, Investigation
Beghal was arrested on 28 July 2001 in Dubai as he was attempting to travel back to Europe on a false French passport after visiting an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan. During interrogation, Beghal said that there was a plan to attack the U.S. Embassy in Paris and told investigators of terrorist cells in Rotterdam and Paris. He also said that Abu Zubaydah, a close associate of Osama bin Laden, had ordered the attack. After being extradited from the United Arab Emirates to France on 1 October 2001, Beghal retracted his confession, saying that it had been extracted using torture.


2001 bomb plot in Europe, Investigation
Surveillance of a suspected terrorist cell led by Kamel Daoudi in Corbeil-Essonnes near Paris started on 10 September. Following surveillance officers overhearing discussion of destroying evidence, French police moved in and arrested seven men on 21 September. Daoudi was not among the arrested, but he was shortly thereafter arrested in Leicester and extradited from the United Kingdom to France on 29 September 2001.


2001 bomb plot in Europe, Investigation
Dutch police started surveilling the Rotterdam cell in August. The four members of the cell were arrested on 13 September.


2001 bomb plot in Europe, Investigation
Police became aware of a connection between the Rotterdam cell and one led by Trabelsi in Brussels. Trabelsi and a Belgian Moroccan were arrested in two different areas of the Brussels metropolitan area on 13 September in an operation coordinated with the arrests in the Netherlands on the same day. At Trabelsi's apartment, police found machine pistols, chemical formulas for bomb-making, detailed maps of the U.S. embassy in Paris, and a business suit. In a restaurant run by one of Trabelsi's associates, police found materials that could have been used to make a bomb capable of blowing up a building.


2001 bomb plot in Europe, Legal proceedings
In December 2002, four men were found not guilty of charges relating to the plot by a Dutch court, citing insufficient and improperly obtained evidence. Two of them, Jérôme Courtailler and Abdelghani Rabia, were convicted in absentia of belonging to a terrorist organization by an appellate court on 21 June 2004, and Courtailler turned himself in on 24 June.


2001 bomb plot in Europe, Legal proceedings
Nizar Trabelsi was sentenced to ten years in prison by a Belgian court on 30 September 2003 for the attempted destruction of public property, illegal arms possession, and membership in a private militia, reflecting Belgium's lack of specific anti-terrorism laws at the time. It was the largest terrorism trial the country had held up to that point; seventeen others were convicted of lesser offences and another five were acquitted. Trabelsi was extradited to the United States in 2013.


2001 bomb plot in Europe, Legal proceedings
Six men were convicted of criminal association in relation with a terrorist enterprise by a French court on 15 March 2005; Djamel Beghal and Kamel Daoudi were sentenced to ten and nine years in prison, respectively, and the other four received sentences ranging from one to six years in prison. Beghal was released in 2010. Daoudi was released from prison in 2008, whereupon he was to be deported to Algeria. However, the European Court of Human Rights blocked the order, and he was instead placed under house arrest.


2001 bombing on Communist Party of Bangladesh
2001 bombing on Communist Party of Bangladesh was a terrorist grenade attack on a rally of the Communist Party of Bangladesh in Paltan Maidan, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Five people were killed in the attack and dozens were injured.


2001 bombing on Communist Party of Bangladesh, Background
The Communist Party of Bangladesh was holding a rally in Paltan Maidan, Dhaka. The rally was 20 January 2001. Communist Party of Bangladesh is the successor organisation to the All India Communist Party that operated in British India. The Party is against religious fundamentalism and is supportive of secularism. Since 1999 many of the veteran jihadists from Afghanistan were returning to Bangladesh and carried out a number of attacks in Bangladesh.


2001 bombing on Communist Party of Bangladesh, Attack
The bomb exploded in the rally about 600 feet from the main stage. 5 people died in the explosion and dozens were injured. Four people immediately and one died at a hospital. Activists of the party reportedly vandalized cars in the streets after the bomb blast. The Attack was carried out by Harkat-al-Jihad al-Islami in Bangladesh.


2001 bombing on Communist Party of Bangladesh, Trial
Mufti Abdul Hannan and 12 others members of Harkat-al-Jihad al-Islami had been charged over the attacks.


2001 electoral calendar
This electoral calendar for the year 2001 lists the national/federal direct elections to be held in 2001 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.


2001 estyle.com Classic
The 2001 estyle.com Classic was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was part of the 2001 WTA Tour. It was the 28th edition of the tournament and took place in Manhattan Beach, California, United States, from August 6 through August 12, 2001. Second-seeded Lindsay Davenport won the singles title and earned $90,000 first-prize money.


2001 estyle.com Classic, Finals, Doubles
Kimberly Po-Messerli /  Nathalie Tauziat defeated  Nicole Arendt /  Caroline Vis, 6–3, 7–5


2001 in Afghanistan
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in Afghanistan.


2001 in Afghanistan, December
Taliban deputy interior minister, and "highest ranking Taliban defector to date". According to Peterson this defector described the American bombardment as very effective, "Kabul city has seen many rockets, but this was a different thing" and "the American bombing of Taliban trenches, cars, and troops caused us to be defeated. All ways were blocked, so there was no way to carry food or ammunition to the front. All trenches of the Taliban were destroyed, and many people were killed."


2001 in Afghanistan, December
The article quoted a senior American military official, who stated:


2001 in Afghanistan, December
U.S. and Northern Alliance forces are aided by so-called Eastern Alliance of ethnic Pashtuns in driving the Taliban from control of all areas of Afghanistan. U.S. attacks target al-Qaeda strongholds in Tora Bora near the Pakistan border. Many al-Qaeda are taken prisoner by U.S, Pakistan and the new UN-approved interim government of Afghanistan. UN peacekeepers move into Afghanistan.


2001 in Albania
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in Republic of Albania.


2001 in American soccer
The 2001 season was the 89th year of competitive soccer in the United States.


2001 in American soccer, National team, Results
The home team or the team that is designated as the home team is listed in the left column; the away team is in the right column.


2001 in American television
The following is a list of events affecting American television during 2001. Events listed include television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures and re-brandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.


2001 in Armenia
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in Armenia.


2001 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in Australia.


2001 in Australian literature
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2001.


2001 in Australian literature, Awards and honours
Note: these awards were presented in the year in question.


2001 in Australian television, Debuts, Changes to network affiliation
This is a list of programmes which made their premiere on an Australian television network that had previously premiered on another Australian television network. The networks involved in the switch of allegiances are predominantly both free-to-air networks or both subscription television networks. Programs that have their free-to-air/subscription television premiere, after previously premiering on the opposite platform (free-to air to subscription/subscription to free-to air) are not included. In some cases, programs may still air on the original television network. This occurs predominantly with programs shared between subscription television networks.


2001 in Australian television, Debuts, Subscription premieres
This is a list of programs which made their premiere on Australian subscription television that had previously premiered on Australian free-to-air television. Programs may still air on the original free-to-air television network.


2001 in Bangladesh
2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2001st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 1st  year of the 3rd millennium, the 1st  year of the 21st century, and the  2nd   year of the 2000s decade.


2001 in Bangladesh
The year 2001 was the 30th year after the independence of Bangladesh. It was also the fifth and final year of the first term of the Government of Sheikh Hasina and the first year of the third term of the Government of Khaleda Zia.


2001 in Bangladesh, Economy
Note: For the year 2001 average official exchange rate for BDT was 55.81 per US$.


2001 in Belgian television
This is a list of Belgian television related events from 2001.


2001 in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The following lists events that happened during the year 2001 in Bosnia and Herzegovina.


2001 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Incumbents
This article about the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .


2001 in Brazilian football
The following article presents a summary of the 2001 football (soccer) season in Brazil, which was the 100th season of competitive football in the country.


2001 in Brazilian football, Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
Atlético-PR declared as the Campeonato Brasileiro champions by aggregate score of 5-2.


2001 in Brazilian football, Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Relegation
The four worst placed teams, which are Santa Cruz, América-MG Botafogo-SP and Sport, were relegated to the following year's second level.


2001 in Brazilian football, Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, Promotion
The two best placed teams in the final stage of the competition, which are Paysandu and Figueirense, were promoted to the following year's first level.


2001 in Brazilian football, Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, Relegation
The four clubs defeated in the relegation playoffs, which are ABC, Nacional-AM, Desportiva-ES and Serra, were relegated to the following year's third level.


2001 in Brazilian football, Campeonato Brasileiro Série C
Etti Jundiaí declared as the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C champions.


2001 in Brazilian football, Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, Promotion
The two best placed teams in the final stage of the competition, which are Etti Jundiaí and Mogi Mirim, were promoted to the following year's second level.


2001 in Brazilian football, Copa do Brasil
The Copa do Brasil final was played between Grêmio and Corinthians.


2001 in Brazilian football, Copa do Brasil
Grêmio declared as the cup champions by aggregate score of 5-3.


2001 in Brazilian football, Copa dos Campeões
The Copa dos Campeões final was played between Flamengo and São Paulo.


2001 in Brazilian football, Copa dos Campeões
Flamengo declared as the cup champions by aggregate score of 7-6.


2001 in Brazilian football, Brazil national team
The following table lists all the games played by the Brazil national football team in official competitions and friendly matches during 2001.


2001 in Brazilian football, Women's football, Brazil women's national football team
The following table lists all the games played by the Brazil women's national football team in official competitions and friendly matches during 2001.


2001 in Brazilian television
This is a list of Brazilian television related events from 2001.


2001 in British music
This is a summary of 2001 in music in the United Kingdom.


2001 in British music, Classical music, Summary
Russell Watson came to the fore in 2001, with the release of his best-selling album The Voice. Another hit album was the score from Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Stephen Warbeck. Karl Jenkins "mass for peace", entitled The Armed Man, went quickly into the Classic FM top 300 annual chart, making him the highest-placed living composer.


2001 in British music, Music awards, Mercury Music Prize
The 2001 Mercury Music Prize was awarded to PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea.


2001 in British music, Music awards, Record of the Year
The Record of the Year was awarded to "Don't Stop Movin'" by S Club 7.


2001 in British music charts
This is a summary of 2001 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.


2001 in British music charts
The year saw the tradition of UK acts dominating the top of the charts carried on from 2000. Songs were starting to spend 2–3 weeks at the summit improving on the large amounts of one week number ones from the previous year. CD sales also improved slightly with 3 million selling singles being issued this year. Overall, 30 songs topped the charts over the course of this year.


2001 in British music charts, Summary
The first new No. 1 of the year was from the first ever Portuguese act to top the UK charts; Rui Da Silva featuring Cassandra and their dance track, "Touch Me" spent 1-week at the summit. The year ended with the announcement that the pop group Steps were to split up on Boxing Day.


2001 in British music charts, Summary, 21st century boy bands
Five scored their final chart topper with "Let's Dance", which marked their final single as a group. The follow-up No. 4 hit, "Closer to Me" was released after news of the band's split. They released a Greatest Hits compilation at the end of the year, which made number 9. BBMak were another boyband to split, however their career was very short-lived with 2001 seeing the start and end of it. Their debut single, "Back Here" failed to make the Top 20 upon initial release, however was then re-issued and peaked at #5. The follow-up single, "Still on Your Side" peaked at No. 8 and despite seeming to continue on with success, they disappeared after the release of their debut album Sooner or Later, which was a very slight Top 20 smash.


2001 in British music charts, Summary, 21st century boy bands
Blue were the most successful new boy band of 2001; whilst their debut single "All Rise" only made No. 4, other boy bands quickly fading away meant that it wasn't long before Blue could take centre stage. Their next two singles, "Too Close" (a cover of the 1998 U.S. chart topper from American boy band Next) and "If You Come Back", a slow love ballad, quickly became chart toppers for the group. However, once again, Westlife became the most successful boy band of the year.


2001 in British music charts, Summary, 21st century boy bands
Although their run of consecutive No. 1 singles had been broken the previous year by Bob the Builder, they quickly returned to the top spot with the Comic Relief single of the year, "Uptown Girl" (a cover of the Billy Joel 1983 UK number 1) and "Queen of My Heart". By the end of the year, they had accumulated a total of 9 No. 1 singles on the UK chart, putting them side by side with the Spice Girls and ABBA. Their 3rd album, entitled World of Our Own, topped the UK albums chart for 1-week.


2001 in British music charts, Summary, 21st century boy bands
ABC aired a talent show, Making the Band, in which by the public vote, boyband O-Town were picked as winners. Their debut single, "Liquid Dreams" peaked at No. 3 in the UK and their follow-up, "All Or Nothing", stalled one place lower.


2001 in British music charts, Summary, 21st century boy bands
The Backstreet Boys released The Hits: Chapter One, which went platinum. The greatest hits album featured a new song, "Drowning", which got to number 4.


2001 in British music charts, Summary, Girl groups
Girl groups were slowly changing away from 90s pop styles to a more R'N'B/Hip Hop direction. All Saints scored their final UK chart hit, with "All Hooked Up", a final release from their second album, peaking at #7. A greatest hits compilation, entitled All Hits followed, but it only made No. 18 on the albums chart.


2001 in British music charts, Summary, Girl groups
Replacing Kerry Katona, Jenny Frost joined girl group Atomic Kitten, who became one of the main early 21st century pop girl groups. After the member change, the band's single "Whole Again", hit No. 1 for 4 weeks, becoming the longest stay since Westlife at New Year in 1999/2000 and also the 4th biggest selling single of the year. They scored a 2nd chart topper later in the year with a remake of The Bangles' "Eternal Flame" chart topper from 1989, which spent 2 weeks at the top and continued on to be one of the most successful groups of the decade.


2001 in British music charts, Summary, Girl groups
Destiny's Child started the new trend for girl groups to veer away from pop, as their chart-topping third album, Survivor, spanned a 2nd consecutive No. 1 hit with the title track. The third single, "Emotion" peaked at #3. Mis-teeq, a girl group in a similar vein to Destiny's Child, scored great success throughout the year, with their No. 3 album Lickin' On Both Sides spanning 3 Top 10 hits; "Why", their No. 8 debut, "All I Want" (#2) & One Night Stand (#5). 3LW also made their debut on the UK charts with the No. 6 hit "No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)". Their follow-up single only made No. 21 and their eponymous debut album was not released in the UK.


2001 in British music charts, Summary, Film and TV music
2001 was a moderately successful year for film and television music, providing some memorable hit singles and albums. The Tweenies and Bob The Builder both released singles, the former of which was a Christmas release making No. 9 and the latter having his 2nd No. 1 single with a re-make of the No. 1 from 1999 by Lou Bega, "Mambo No. 5". This 2nd No. 1 made Bob the first non-human who "sung" on his recordings to hit the top more than once.


2001 in British music charts, Summary, Film and TV music
Two very successful movies, Moulin Rouge! and Bridget Jones's Diary, had equally successful soundtracks and produced memorable hit singles each. On the Bridget Jones soundtrack, former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell had a chart-topping hit with a cover of The Weather Girls classic "It's Raining Men", while Gabrielle provided her vocals on the No. 4 hit "Out of Reach" which became her first Top 5 single since the chart-topping "Rise" in early 2000.


2001 in British music charts, Summary, Film and TV music
The Moulin Rouge!collaboration proved to be slightly more successful with Christina Aguilera joining forces with Pink, Lil' Kim and Mýa on a cover of the 1975 hit single "Lady Marmalade" (itself previously covered in 1998 by All Saints. Their version proved to be even more successful, topping the charts worldwide and becoming the 900th single to top the UK charts.


2001 in British music charts, Summary, Film and TV music
Glitter became Mariah Carey's acting debut and the soundtrack became her 10th album release. Despite her massive worldwide success throughout the 90s, the new millennium did not take so kindly to her as both the movie and the soundtrack were a critical and commercial flop. Lead single "Loverboy" failed to make much of an impact, peaking at No. 12 in the UK (made No. 2 in the US, breaking her run of lead single chart toppers). The album peaked at No. 10 in the UK, another weak showing on Carey's behalf. Enough although the former of these singles failed to chart in the US and the latter was not released due to the weak performance of prior singles, "Never Too Far/Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" was able to crack the UK Top 40, peaking at #32.


2001 in British music charts, Summary, Film and TV music
2001 also saw the beginning of music talent programmes with the band Hear'Say being created on the T.V programme "Popstars" in the UK. It would go on to spawn the creation of similar formats including the British "Pop Idol", American version, "American Idol" and "The X Factor".


2001 in British music charts, Year-end charts, Best-selling singles
Data based on sales from 31 December 2000 to 29 December 2001.


2001 in British music charts, Year-end charts, Best-selling albums
Data based on sales from 31 December 2000 to 29 December 2001.


2001 in British music charts, Year-end charts, Best-selling compilation albums
Data based on sales from 31 December 2000 to 29 December 2001.


2001 in British radio
This is a list of events in British radio during 2001.


2001 in British television
This is a list of British television related events from 2001.


2001 in Canadian television
This is a list of Canadian television related events from 2001.


2001 in Cape Verde
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in Cape Verde.


2001 in Chile
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in Chile.


2001 in Croatia
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in Croatia.


2001 in Croatian television
This is a list of Croatian television related events from 2001.


2001 in Danish television
This is a list of Danish television related events from 2001.


2001 in Deep
The year 2001 is the first year in the history of Deep, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the Japan. In 2001 Deep held 3 events beginning with, Deep: 1st Impact.


2001 in Deep, Deep: 1st Impact
Deep: 1st Impact was an event held on January 8, 2001 at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Japan.


2001 in Deep, Deep: 2nd Impact
Deep: 2nd Impact was an event held on August 18, 2001 at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Yokohama, Japan.


2001 in Deep, Deep: 3rd Impact
Deep: 3rd Impact was an event held on December 23, 2001 at the Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan.


2001 in Dutch television
This is a list of Dutch television related events from 2000.


2001 in Ecuadorian football
The 2001 season was the 79th season of competitive football in Ecuador.


2001 in Ecuadorian football, National teams, Senior team
The Ecuadorian national team played in fourteen matches in 2001: eight FIFA World Cup qualifiers, three Copa América matches, and three friendlies. At the end of the year, the team qualified for their first FIFA World Cup.


2001 in Ecuadorian football, National teams, Senior team, 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
Ecuador finished their qualifying campaign to the 2002 FIFA World Cup. They finished 2nd in the region, behind Argentina and ahead of Brazil, to qualify to their first FIFA World Cup.


2001 in Ecuadorian football, National teams, Senior team, Copa América
Ecuador was drawn into Group A with hosts Colombia, Chile, and Venezuela. After finishing third in the group, as well has the third best third-place team, they were eliminated in the Group Stage.


2001 in England, Events, March
31 March -  Stuart Lubbock found dead at the Home of Michael Barrymore


2001 in Estonia
This article lists events that occurred during 2001 in Estonia.


2001 in Estonian football
The 2001 season was the tenth full year of competitive football (soccer) in Estonia since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991-08-20.


2001 in Estonian television
This is a list of Estonian television related events from 2001.


2001 in Ethiopia
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in Ethiopia.


2001 in Europe
This is a list of 2001 events that occurred in Europe.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings
The year 2001 is the seventh year in the history of Fighting Network Rings, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. In 2001 Fighting Network Rings held 15 events beginning with, Rings Holland: Heroes Live Forever.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings Holland: Heroes Live Forever
Rings Holland: Heroes Live Forever was an event held on January 28, 2001 at The Vechtsebanen Sport Hall in Utrecht, Netherlands.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings: King of Kings 2000 Final
Rings: King of Kings 2000 Final was an event held on February 24, 2001 at The Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena in Tokyo, Japan.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings USA: Battle of Champions
Rings USA: Battle of Champions was an event held on March 17, 2001 at The Harveys Casino Hotel in Council Bluffs, Iowa.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings: Battle Genesis Vol. 7
Rings: Battle Genesis Vol. 7 was an event held on March 20, 2001 at The Differ Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings Russia: Russia vs. Bulgaria
Rings Russia: Russia vs. Bulgaria was an event held on April 6, 2001 at The Yekaterinburg Sports Palace in Yekaterinburg, Russia.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings: World Title Series 1
Rings: World Title Series 1 was an event held on April 20, 2001 at The Yoyogi National Stadium Gym 2 in Yoyogi National Stadium Gym 2.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings Lithuania: Bushido Rings 2
Rings Lithuania: Bushido Rings 2 was an event held on May 8, 2001 at The Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports in Vilnius, Lithuania.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings Holland: No Guts, No Glory
Rings Holland: No Guts, No Glory was an event held on June 10, 2001 at The Sport Hall Zuid in Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings: World Title Series 2
Rings: World Title Series 2 was an event held on June 15, 2001 at The Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Kanagawa, Japan.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings: 10th Anniversary
Rings: 10th Anniversary was an event held on August 11, 2001 at Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings: Battle Genesis Vol. 8
Rings: Battle Genesis Vol. 8 was an event held on September 21, 2001 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings: World Title Series 4
Rings: World Title Series 4 was an event held on October 20, 2001 at The Yoyogi National Stadium Gym 2 in Tokyo, Japan.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings Lithuania: Bushido Rings 3
Rings Lithuania: Bushido Rings 3 was an event held on November 10, 2001 at The Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports in Vilnius, Lithuania.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings Holland: Some Like It Hard
Rings Holland: Some Like It Hard was an event held on December 2, 2001 at The Vechtsebanen Sport Hall in Utrecht, Netherlands.


2001 in Fighting Network Rings, Rings: World Title Series 5
Rings: World Title Series 5 was an event held on December 21, 2001 at The Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Kanagawa, Japan.


2001 in French television
This is a list of French television related events from 2001.


2001 in German television
This is a list of German television related events from 2001.


2001 in Ghana
2001 in Ghana details events of note that happened in Ghana in the year 2001.


2001 in Ghana, National holidays
Holidays in italics are "special days", while those in regular type are "regular holidays".


2001 in Ghana, National holidays
In addition, several other places observe local holidays, such as the foundation of their town. These are also "special days."


2001 in Iceland
The following lists events that happened in 2001 in Iceland.


2001 in Iceland, Events, June
This Iceland-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .


2001 in Iceland, Events, June
This year in Europe article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .


2001 in India
Events in the year 2001 in the Republic of India.


2001 in Iraq
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in the Iraqi Republic.


2001 in Irish television
The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 2001.


2001 in Israel, Events
The Israeli developed and produced assault rifle Tavor TAR-21 was first introduced to the IDF forces.


2001 in Israel, Events, Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The most prominent events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which occurred during 2001 include:


2001 in Israel, Events, Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The most prominent Palestinian militant acts and operations committed against Israeli targets during 2001 include:


2001 in Israel, Events, Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Notable Israeli military operations against Palestinian militancy targetsThe most prominent Israeli military counter-terrorism operations (military campaigns and military operations) carried out against Palestinian militants during 2001 include:


2001 in Italian television
This is a list of Italian television related events from 2001.


2001 in Japan
Events in the year 2001 in Japan. It corresponds to the year Heisei 13 (平成１３年 or 平成十三年) in the Japanese calendar.


2001 in King of the Cage
The year 2001 is the third year in the history of King of the Cage, a mixed martial arts promotion based in The United States. In 2001 King of the Cage held 5 events, KOTC 7: Wet and Wild.


2001 in King of the Cage, KOTC 7: Wet and Wild
KOTC 7: Wet and Wild was an event held on February 24, 2001 at the Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California, United States.


2001 in King of the Cage, KOTC 8: Bombs Away
KOTC 8: Bombs Away was an event held on April 29, 2001 at the Colusa Casino in Williams, California, United States.


2001 in King of the Cage, KOTC 9: Showtime
KOTC 9: Showtime was an event held on June 23, 2001 at the Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California, United States.


2001 in King of the Cage, KOTC 10: Critical Mass
KOTC 10: Critical Mass was an event held on August 4, 2001 in California, United States.


2001 in King of the Cage, KOTC 11: Domination
KOTC 11: Domination was an event held on September 29, 2001 at the Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California, United States.


2001 in LGBT rights
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2001.


2001 in Laos
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in Laos.


2001 in Latin music
This is a list of notable events in Latin music (i.e., music from the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking areas Latin America, Latin Europe, and the United States) that took place in 2001.


2001 in Latin music, Best-selling records, Best-selling albums
The following is a list of the top 10 best-selling Latin albums in the United States in 2001, according to Billboard.


2001 in Latin music, Best-selling records, Best-performing songs
The following is a list of the top 10 best-performing Latin songs in the United States in 2001, according to Billboard.


2001 in Libya
The following lists events that happened in 2001 in Libya.


2001 in Luxembourg
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.


2001 in M-1 Global
The year 2001 is the fifth year in the history of M-1 Global, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Russia. In 2001 M-1 Global held 5 events beginning with, M-1 MFC: Russia vs. the World 1.


2001 in M-1 Global, M-1 MFC: Russia vs. the World 1
M-1 MFC: Russia vs. the World 1 was an event held on April 27, 2001 at The Palace of sport "Jubileiny" in Saint Petersburg, Russia.


2001 in M-1 Global, M-1 MFC: Exclusive Fight Night 2
M-1 MFC: Exclusive Fight Night 2 was an event held on June 28, 2001 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.


2001 in M-1 Global, M-1 MFC: Exclusive Fight Night 3
M-1 MFC: Exclusive Fight Night 3 was an event held on September 27, 2001 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.


2001 in M-1 Global, M-1 MFC: Russia vs. the World 2
M-1 MFC: Russia vs. the World 2 was an event held on November 11, 2001 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.


2001 in M-1 Global, M-1 MFC: Exclusive Fight Night 4
M-1 MFC: Exclusive Fight Night 4 was an event held on December 27, 2001 at The Arena Fighting Club in Saint Petersburg, Russia.


2001 in Malaysia
This article lists important figures and events in Malaysian public affairs during the year 2001, as well as births and deaths of notable Malaysians.


2001 in Maximum Fighting Championship
The year 2001 is the 1st year in the history of the Maximum Fighting Championship, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Canada. In 2001 Maximum Fighting Championship held 2 events beginning with, MFC 1: Maximum Fighting.


2001 in Maximum Fighting Championship, MFC 1: Maximum Fighting
MFC 1: Maximum Fighting was an event held on March 3, 2001 in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada.


2001 in Maximum Fighting Championship, MFC 2: Rumble at the Jungle
MFC 2: Rumble at the Jungle was an event held on November 24, 2001 at the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.


2001 in Monaco
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in Monaco.


2001 in New Zealand
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in New Zealand.


2001 in New Zealand, Incumbents, Government
The 46th New Zealand Parliament continued. Government was The Labour Party led by Helen Clark, in coalition with Alliance, led by Jim Anderton.


2001 in New Zealand, Arts and literature, Music, New Zealand Music Awards
Two original categories were retired 'Most Promising Male Vocalist' and 'Most Promising Female Vocalist' and the 'Film Soundtrack/Cast Recording/Compilation' category introduced the year before was reduced to be compilations only. Winners are shown first with nominees underneath.


2001 in New Zealand, Arts and literature, Music, New Zealand Music Awards
See : 2001 in music, New Zealand Top 50 Albums of 2001


2001 in New Zealand, Arts and literature, Radio and television
See : 2001 in New Zealand television, 2001 in television, List of TVNZ television programming, Category:Television in New Zealand, TV3 (New Zealand), Category:New Zealand television shows, Public broadcasting in New Zealand


2001 in New Zealand, Arts and literature, Film
See : Category:2001 film awards, 2001 in film, List of New Zealand feature films, Cinema of New Zealand, Category:2001 films


2001 in Norwegian football, Men's football, League season, Third Division
(1: Haugerud merged with Tveita and Trosterud to form Hellerud.


2001 in Norwegian football, Men's football, League season, Third Division
(1 Mercantile/Lambertseter changed their name (back) to Mercantile. (2 Sør-Aurdal merged with Fagernes to form SAFK Fagernes.


2001 in Norwegian football, Men's football, Promoted to Second Division 2002
Brann 2, Elverum, Follo, Frigg Oslo, Grindvoll, Jerv, Klepp, Langevåg, Larvik, Levanger, Salangen and Vesterålen


2001 in Norwegian music
The following is a list of notable events and releases of the year 2001 in Norwegian music.


2001 in Norwegian television
This is a list of Norwegian television related events from 2001.


2001 in Pakistan, Events, July
President Musharraf meets Indian PM Vajpayee in Agra for a three-day summit; the talks fail.


2001 in Pancrase
The year 2001 is the ninth year in the history of Pancrase, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. In 2001 Pancrase held 13 events beginning with Pancrase: Proof 1.


2001 in Pancrase, Pancrase: Proof 1
Pancrase: Proof 1 was an event held on February 4, 2001 at the Aomori Prefectural Gymnasium in Aomori, Japan.


2001 in Pancrase, Pancrase Australia: Hybrid Evolution
Pancrase Australia: Hybrid Evolution was an event held on February 17, 2001 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.


2001 in Pancrase, Pancrase: Proof 2
Pancrase: Proof 2 was an event held on March 31, 2001 at Clancy Centre in Sydney, Australia.


2001 in Pancrase, Pancrase: 2001 Neo-Blood Tournament Eliminations
Pancrase: 2001 Neo-Blood Tournament Eliminations was an event held on May 5, 2001 at the Namihaya Dome in Kadoma, Osaka, Japan.


2001 in Pancrase, Pancrase: Proof 3
Pancrase: Proof 3 was an event held on May 13, 2001 at the Ota City Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.


2001 in Pancrase, Pancrase: Proof 4
Pancrase: Proof 4 was an event held on June 26, 2001 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.


2001 in Pancrase, Pancrase: 2001 Neo-Blood Tournament Opening Round
Pancrase: 2001 Neo-Blood Tournament Opening Round was an event held on July 29, 2001 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.


2001 in Pancrase, Pancrase: 2001 Neo-Blood Tournament Second Round
Pancrase: 2001 Neo-Blood Tournament Second Round was an event held on July 29, 2001 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.


2001 in Pancrase, Pancrase: Proof 5
Pancrase: Proof 5 was an event held on August 25, 2001 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.


2001 in Pancrase, Pancrase: 2001 Anniversary Show
Pancrase: 2001 Anniversary Show was an event held on September 30, 2001 at Umeda Stella Hall in Osaka, Osaka, Japan.


2001 in Pancrase, Pancrase: Australia
Pancrase: Australia was an event held on October 16, 2001 at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.


2001 in Pancrase, Pancrase: Proof 6
Pancrase: Proof 6 was an event held on October 30, 2001 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.


2001 in Pancrase, Pancrase: Proof 7
Pancrase: Proof 7 was an event held on December 1, 2001 at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.


2001 in Paraguayan football
The following article presents a summary of the 2001 football in Paraguay.


2001 in Paraguayan football, First division results, Torneo Apertura
The Apertura tournament was played in a single all-play-all system. At the end, the top eight teams qualified to a playoff stage to determine the Apertura champion.