On the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, experts convened by the US National Academy of Sciences will review the FBI's scientific evidence against bioweapons researcher Bruce Ivins, who committed suicide earlier this year, in the anthrax bioterrorist attacks of 2001.

FBI director Robert Mueller. Credit: REUTERS/M. RILEY

The scope and timeline have not yet been defined, but the assessment will exclude the 60 or so experts who consulted with the FBI on the case. Bureau director Robert Mueller revealed the planned evaluation in testimony before judiciary committees of the Senate and House of Representatives last week.

Several lawmakers have expressed doubts about the FBI's case, questioning how the bureau eliminated all other possible suspects, and why it took so long to zero in on Ivins, a researcher at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Senator Patrick Leahy (Democrat, Vermont), a target in the mailings of deadly spores, said he believes the attacks were not a one-man job.

Mueller responded that the FBI had followed every lead; the case is expected to last for several months.