U.S. embassies in Prague and Tokyo get white powder mail

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. embassies in Prague and Tokyo received envelopes with white powder that is being tested for toxins, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday, one day after it disclosed receiving similar letters at 16 missions in Europe that were later found to be harmless.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the other 16 embassies were in Berlin, Bern, Brussels, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Luxembourg, Madrid, Oslo, Paris, Reykjavik, Riga, Rome, Stockholm, Tallinn and The Hague.

He declined comment on who may have sent the letters, noting a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe was underway.

U.S. authorities have been on alert for such letters since 2001, when envelopes laced with anthrax were sent to media outlets and to U.S. lawmakers, killing five people.

On Wednesday, the FBI said the 16 original embassy letters, as well as similar envelopes containing white powder that were sent to the offices of more than 40 governors in the United States since December 8, were all post-marked in Texas.

(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Sandra Maler)