Chilean police: Pakistani man detained in US Embassy while carrying traces of explosives

Chilean police detain Pakistani in US Embassy

SANTIAGO, Chile — A Pakistani man who tried to enter the U.S. Embassy in Santiago with traces of explosives was in preventive custody Tuesday pending an investigation.

Embassy detectors were set off by traces of bomb-making substances when Mohammed Saif Ur Rehman walked through, said Mario Schilling, a spokesman for the prosecutor in the case.

Schilling did not elaborate on what kind of explosives were involved or whether Rehman, 28, was suspected of any criminal activity.

Embassy spokesman Juan Pablo Varela confirmed that Rehman was detained, but provided no further information.

El Mercurio newspaper reported that the explosive substances were found in a bag and on documents and a cellular telephone that Rehman was carrying. Schilling neither confirmed nor denied the report.

Local news media also reported that Rehman said he was in Chile to study tourism and had gone to the Embassy on Monday to get a visa.

Rehman was being held in preventative custody pending a decision on whether to press charges, Schilling said.

His detention comes only days after Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistan-born U.S. citizen, allegedly tried to set off a bomb-laden SUV in New York’s Times Square after receiving training from the Taliban in Pakistan.