No charges for Pakistani in Chile explosives scare

Prosecutor says there is insufficient evidence to proceed in criminal case against Saifur Rehman.

SANTIAGO: Chile has decided not press charges against a Pakistani student arrested at the US embassy with traces of explosives in his belongings, a prosecutor said, citing a lack of evidence against him.

"There is insufficient evidence to proceed in a criminal case against Saif Ur Rehman Khan", prosecutor Alejandro Pena told AFP.

Pena said that after eight months of investigation, authorities would not seek formal charges against the Pakistani student, 29, who arrived in Chile in January to work in a tourism job. "The traces that were found were not enough to have him charged," added Pena.

Khan was investigated on charges of illegal possession of explosives, but not the more serious accusation of violating an anti-terror law originally sought by Chilean authorities. Khan went to the US embassy on May 10 after being called in for a discussion about his US visa, which had been revoked.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 harbours no malice toward the United States, where he has relatives. He has said his predicament was "a big misunderstanding stemming from a mistaken identity."

His arrest came a week after the arrest in the United States of a naturalised US citizen born in Pakistan, Faisal Shahzad, whom US authorities accuse of planting a car bomb on May 1 in New York's Times Square.