Santiago, May 19: A Pakistani detained in Chile said the positive test for explosive traces he registered at the US Embassy was likely a false alarm and denied any wrongdoing. He said he holds no ill will toward America.
Mohammad Saif Ur Rehman Khan was detained May 10 after embassy equipment detected traces of explosives on his cell phone and papers. Traces of the same substance were later found on items in his apartment and Chilean authorities charged him with possessing explosives.
The 28-year-old read a statement in English to reporters outside the public defenders office yesterday, professing his innocence and calling the allegations against him “baseless and false.” He said the case appeared “to have stemmed from a false alarm.”
Soon after his arrest, Khan told local media he thought his detention was an attempt to cover up shame for America’s actions in Iraq and Pakistan.
But yesterday he was less critical of the United States.
“I have friends and family in the United States of America and more than anyone I want America to be safe and secure,” he said. “I have been to the US and I greatly admire the American values of truth, justice and freedom.”
In yesterday’s statement, Khan repeated his claim that he was in Chile to learn Spanish and study the tourism industry.
Khan has been released from detention but is not allowed to leave Chile’s capital pending the investigation. He is staying at a student residence in Santiago.
–PTI