News
Monday, May 17, 2010
Chile charges, frees Pakistani in US embassy case
SANTIAGO: A Pakistani suspect arrested at the US embassy in Chile after triggering an explosive detector was charged on Saturday with illegal possession of explosives, but was freed pending a probe. The man, identified by the US State Department as 28-year-old Muhammad Saifur Rehnab Khan was taken into custody at the embassy on Monday and held in a maximum-security prison under an anti-terror law. He must sign in once a week with authorities and may not leave the country while the case is investigated, court officials said. Police said traces of the explosive Tetryl were found on Khan’s documents and mobile telephone. Tetryl is a compound used as a booster to help detonate explosive charges. “He was basically (charged) for an infraction of the law on firearms and explosives,” state prosecutor Xavier Armendariz told reporters after the hearing. “The investigation is open and continues.” A senior State Department official said on Tuesday that Khan, a student who had been in Chile for four months, was invited to the embassy so officials could notify him that his visa for the US was being revoked. reuters
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk