Published: May 23, 2010

SANTIAGO: A Chilean court ordered back to jail Saturday a Pakistani man who had been charged and briefly detained after traces of explosives were found on him as he visited the US embassy, officials said.

The court deemed 28-year-old Mauhannas Saif ur Rehnab Khan "a danger to society" and revoked his freedom after he was released last week on probation following charges of illegally possessing explosives, but not of violating an anti-terror law.

The court was responding to an appeal filed by prosecutors Thursday against Khan's release that asked he be placed under preventative detention.

The interior ministry had also joined the attorney general in requesting preventive detention.

Now Khan will be detained as long as 120 days pending the outcome of the investigation of his explosives charge. He handed himself over to authorities Saturday and was taken to a top-security prison in Santiago, officials said.

Khan, an intern at a Santiago hotel, had gone to the embassy on May 10 after being called in for a discussion about his US visa, which had been revoked.

He was arrested after going through a security check, where embassy officials discovered traces of a TNT explosive on his hands, cell phone, bag and documents.

The Pakistani national has denied the illegal explosives charge, saying he harbors no malice toward the United States, where he has relatives.

He said Tuesday his predicament was simply "a big misunderstanding stemming from a mistaken identity."

News Categorization:

Indo-Pak