UK alert for more toxic packages

The package was addressed to Blair's residence at 10 Downing Street.

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Police are still trying to trace up to 14 packages containing a dangerous chemical after two were sent to Prime Minister Tony Blair's Downing Street residence and a politician's female assistant.

The attack was thought to be the work of so-called "tartan terrorists" seeking independence for Scotland.

One parcel was addressed to the prime minister's wife, Cherie Blair, Britain's Press Association reported.

Scotland Yard and Blair's office would not comment on the intended recipient, but confirmed nobody had been injured by the parcels, which contained caustic soda disguised as eucalyptus oil.

The other package was sent to a female assistant to Mike Rumbles, a Liberal Democrat member of the Scottish Parliament.

Rumbles said the woman helper at his constituency office in Banchory, Aberdeenshire, northern Scotland, received a suspect package addressed to her at her home on Friday.

"I am extremely angry at this quite despicable act, the police are onto it and I hope they get the perpetrators as quickly as possible," he told PA.

He said his assistant had opened the parcel, which had been sent to her home, but had not opened the bottle inside and had not been harmed.

Rumbles said he did not know why he or his staff should be targeted.

Police issued a public warning on Friday night after an anonymous man claimed he had sent up to 16 packages.

In the telephone claim the man, speaking with a Scottish accent, identified himself as a member of the Scottish National Liberation Army, an extremist Scottish nationalist group that was formed in 1980.

During the 1980s, the group, which demands an independent Scottish republic and Gaelic as its national language, made several hoax bomb and death threats to Britain's royal family.

It was linked to an anthrax letter hoax involving letters sent last summer to St. Andrews University in Scotland, where Prince William is studying.

The latest parcels -- large brown envelopes -- consisted of a container of what appeared to be a complimentary sample of eucalyptus oil for aromatherapy and a leaflet explaining how to use the product, a Scotland Yard spokesman said.

Forensic testing determined the "oil" was sodium hydroxide, or caustic soda, the spokesman said. Liquid sodium hydroxide can cause blindness, permanent scarring and even death. When it mixes with water, it can also generate enough heat to start a fire.

"The directions for use (in the package) are regarded by police to be cynically dangerous," said a statement from Scotland Yard.

PM Blair was in Australia to attend the biennial Commonwealth summit.

A Downing Street a source said that no one was ever in any danger in the building, as security officials had become suspicious of the package during routine screening.

Scotland Yard warned the public on Saturday not to open suspicious packages.

"We believe this is especially applicable to members of the political parties and their members of staff," a spokesman said.

Scotland Yard said the latest incident was in no way linked to the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, but was connected to domestic political issues.

In 1995, a part of the SNLA broke away and became a legitimate political organisation called the Scottish Separatist Group. Its aims are to halt and reverse English immigration into Scotland, to restore Gaelic as the national language of Scotland, and to establish and maintain an independent Scottish republic.