“I am innocent and I do not know why this is happening. I think it is the fault of the United States, where I wanted to go for a month. That’s why I went to the embassy,” the man, who police identified as Mauhannas Saif Ur Rehnab Khan, told reporters.
Rehnab, 28, denied any terrorist ties. “I have no idea what is happening here, but I imagine it has to do with what’s going on in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said. “I don’t know anything about bombs. I am a man who studies and works and I have nothing to do with that stuff,” he said.
Rehnab made the remarks to AFP as he was transferred in a police van to a hospital for a medical checkup ordered by Judge Ely Rothfield.
Rehnab said he had not had contact with the Pakistani embassy, or with Chilean authorities, or the prosecutor in the case, Francisco Jacir.
Under anti-terror laws the suspect can be detained until Saturday, court sources said.
Experts found traces of a TNT explosive derivative on the young suspect’s hands, cell phone, bag and documentation after he went through a security checkpoint on Monday, prompting embassy staff to notify police.
Rehnab insisted he did not know where the traces came from, and said that he was at the embassy only to renew his visa.
But a senior State Department official said in Washington Tuesday that the embassy had called Rehnab in after revoking his US visa. He would not say why the visa had been revoked.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Rehnab had been called in “to clarify the information that we have on this individual.
No comments:
Post a Comment