Pak man detained for explosive residue on hands at US Embassy in Chile

WASHINGTON - A Pakistani man, who was recently added to a US terror watch list, was detained at the American Embassy in Chile for having explosive residue on his hands and personal items.

The US State Department identified the Pakistani origin man as Muhammad Saif-Ur-Rehman Khan, aged 27.

Khan’s American visa was in the process of being revoked in accordance with US law, and he was at the embassy to discuss the matter, ABC News quoted an official, as saying.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that the man came to the embassy for a “consular issue.”

“We have information on this individual. We had brought him — invited him to come to the embassy, you know, to clarify the information that we have on this individual. And as he came into the embassy, our explosive detectors went off,” Crowley said.

Sources said that the individual was then subjected to further swabs and searches, which also tested positive. The suspect was detained and turned over to Chilean authorities for further investigation.

Additional, more definitive testing is being done to make sure the field tests did not create a false positive for explosive residue, which is common.

“We don’t think this was a spurious hit on our detection system,” meaning it was likely an accurate detection of explosive residue, Crowley said.

The FBI is looking into what connections the suspect may have with terror groups, and, if the tests prove positive, from where he obtained the explosive material. (ANI)