U.N. missions say NY white powder envelopes harmless

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Preliminary police examinations of white powder sent in letters to four U.N. missions in New York City showed the material was harmless, diplomats from the affected countries said on Tuesday.

The U.N. missions of Austria, France, Germany and Uzbekistan received letters with an unidentified white powder on Monday. The New York Police Department said it was investigating the envelopes and had decontaminated 40 people as a precaution.

"The material is being examined by the authorities, and the preliminary finding we've received is that it was not dangerous," Austrian U.N. Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting said at U.N. headquarters.

U.S. authorities have been on alert for mail with white powder in it since 2001, when envelopes laced with anthrax were sent to media outlets and U.S. lawmakers, killing five people.

French Ambassador Gerard Araud said the decontamination of his mission went on until after 3 a.m./0800 GMT. He said the letter was postmarked in Dallas.

An Austrian official said the letter the Austrians received also came from Dallas.

Officials at the German and Uzbek missions said operations were back to normal at their offices and the people who opened the letters had returned to work.

Mayr-Harting declined to comment on the contents of the letter that accompanied the powder. French, German and Austrian officials said they had no idea why their missions had been targeted. An Uzbekistan embassy official did not offer details.

(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Will Dunham)