New York police put an end to fears shrouding a white powder mailed to several UN diplomatic offices, saying the suspicious substance was nothing but flour.

"The substance was non-lethal, it was flour," AFP quoted police spokeswoman Mindy Diaz as saying on Wednesday.

Police reported packages containing the substance were sent to the offices of UN representatives from France, Austria, Uzbekistan, Germany and Britain between Monday and Tuesday.

New York City police had to carry out a 'decontamination' of French, Austrian and Uzbek diplomats, who had come into contact with the powder, on Monday night as a precautionary measure.

Later, the police were informed on similar packages received by the British and German missions to the UN.

On Wednesday, the Russian and Lithuanian missions said they had also received mail containing a similar powder.

The US Post Office confirmed that the package to the Russian mission was mailed from Texas, which was also the case for the envelopes received at the other UN missions on Tuesday.

The hoax is a reminder of a series of envelopes containing virulent anthrax powder sent within the United States in 2001.

The event in the wake of the September 11 attacks resulted in five deaths and sparked nationwide panic.

MRS/AKM