Anthrax 'person of interest' fired

BATON ROUGE, La., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Louisiana State University said Tuesday it has fired a man caught up in the FBI's anthrax inquiry from his job as associate director of the National Center for Biomedical Research and Training.

Dr. Steven J. Hatfill was hired by LSU in July and put on administrative leave with pay on Aug. 2 after a second FBI search of his Frederick, Md., apartment.

"In taking this action, the university is making no judgment as to Dr. Hatfill's guilt or innocence regarding the FBI investigation," said LSU Chancellor Mark A. Emmert in a statement released late Tuesday.

"Our ultimate concerns are the ability of the university to fulfill its role and mission as a land-grant university," he said. "In considering all of these objectives, I have concluded that it is clearly in the best interest of LSU to terminate this relationship."

Hatfill, a bioweapons expert, was labeled by Attorney General John Ashcroft "a person of interest" in the inquiry into the anthrax-laced letters that killed five people last fall.

He denies any involvement and has not been charged. The FBI maintains he is not officially a suspect.

Emmert declined to comment specifically on whether a severance package would be offered. He said the termination was done according to university procedures.

In a statement released by his spokesman, Pat Clawson, Hatfill said, "My life has been completely and utterly destroyed by John Ashcroft and the FBI.

"I don't have a job. I'm unemployed. Twenty years worth of training is down the tubes. My professional reputation is in tatters."

Hatfill once worked at the U.S. Army's bioweapons research lab at Fort Detrick in Maryland. He was not assigned to work with anthrax.