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India-Pakistan
Man detained with 'worrying' circuit at Karachi airport, Pakistan
2010-05-09
PAKISTANI officers have arrested a man at Karachi airport after batteries and an electrical circuit were found in his shoes as he tried to board a plane for the Middle East.

The 30-year-old civil engineer allegedly told interrogators he came from Pakistan's northwestern province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where Taliban and Islamist militants have a presence, and had been scheduled to travel to Muscat by Thai Airways.

Mohammad Munir, Airport Security Force spokesman, said the bearded man, whom he named as Faiz Mohammad, was arrested yesterday when a scanner sounded an alarm.

The suspect was not found in possession of explosives, but Munir described the circuit discovery as "worrying".

"He was on the way to board flight TG 507 for Muscat. After the machine gave the alarm, we checked him manually," said the spokesman.

"We have recovered four live batteries and a circuit, with a button to switch it on and off," Munir said.

The suspect allegedly told investigators he was living in Karachi, Pakistan's southern city, but was planning to return to Muscat, where he had previously worked for a construction company, to set up his own business.

"The devices found from the suspect suggested that if he was carrying explosive material, he could have easily blown the explosives up in the plane," said Munir.

Sunday's arrest comes a week after US agents arrested a Pakistani-American man, Faisal Shahzad, as he sat on a plane preparing to take off for Dubai, for allegedly attempting to blow up a car bomb in New York.

Although the circumstances of the Karachi case are murky, the detention is likely to ratchet up US pressure on Pakistan to crack down on Islamist extremists operating in safe havens in tribal areas along the Afghan border.
Posted by:tipper

#5  Ready, Mohammad? OK, you put your foot in my crotch, like so....

All these guys are named Mohammad? The security spokesman, the 'detonator', the 'exploder', probably the pilot....
Posted by: KBK   2010-05-09 21:58  

#4  al-Bundi invents shoe lights.
Posted by: ed   2010-05-09 20:19  

#3  It being the middle east and all, the headline made me think someone had electronicized a set of worry beads...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2010-05-09 20:16  

#2  Two (or more)- agent system?
Posted by: Pappy   2010-05-09 20:11  

#1  Some years ago I knew a wit who made himself a little device, just a small metal box, with a radio antenna. On the front of the box was an on/off switch that would turn on a red light, and a push button that did nothing.

He would take it from his pocket, extend the antenna, turn on the red light, then push the button. He thought it was a hoot. Got some interesting reactions out of people.

Until one time when he did that at a coffee shop, unaware that a police officer was watching him.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2010-05-09 19:32  

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