Lockdown on streets near White House lifted after removing suspicious package

The lockdown on streets near the White House here in the U.S. capital was lifted Wednesday afternoon after a suspicious package was removed.

Earlier on the day, the Washington Police Department said in its Twitter post that streets were shut down in an area east of the White House, but it didn't give details on reason of the closure.

Later in the afternoon, the U.S. Secret Service announced that the lockdown has lifted, saying that a suspicious package was found in the morning but quickly cleared around 1 p.m. and there were no reports of other problems there.

Meanwhile, U.S. Capitol Police responded to reports of the " powdery substance", saying an investigation found nothing hazardous.

It said that police had removed the substance, but there is no further information about the incident.