Ethiopian mailed HIV-positive blood to Obama

A mentally-ill Ethiopian refugee has been arrested for mailing a letter stained with his HIV-positive blood to US President Barack Obama, court records show.

Saad Bedrie Hussein told investigators that he mailed the letter - which also contained an orange powdered substance, a Christmas card and a photograph of himself taken in Bali with his phone number on the back - in hopes that he could get tickets to Obama's inauguration.

The bloodstains were smeared on six index cards and a piece of lined notebook paper on which Saad wrote in Ethiopian. He told police that he "purposely cut one of his fingers with a razor he could bleed on the letter," a criminal complaint said.

"Saad stated he is very sick with HIV - confirmed by his brother, Abdulaziz - and it was his way of seeking help from the government," the complaint signed by postal inspector Terry Cullivan said.

The letter was addressed to Obama but mailed to the Illinois Department on Aging in Springfield, Illinois and was marked with Hussein's return address. The entire building was locked down for nearly two hours on December 29 while a hazardous materials team tested the suspicious powder.