Pakistan airport stops man with circuits in shoes

fatima1994

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Pakistan airport stops man with circuits in shoes


KARACHI, Pakistan — Pakistani airport authorities detained a passenger after electrical circuits and batteries were found in the soles of his tennis shoes, an airport security official said Monday.

Officials were investigating what the components could be used for and why they were concealed. Similar materials can be used in the construction of bombs.

The man, Faiz Mohammad, was arrested Sunday night at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport, said Munir Ahmed, a spokesman for the airport security force. The materials were detected by a scanner.

Ahmed said each shoe contained a small circuit connected to two AAA batteries.

Mohammad, a building constructor headed to Muscat, Oman, told investigators he bought the shoes from a market in Karachi and had no idea there were circuits hidden inside the soles.

"It is premature to say what was he up to. We are looking into the matter thoroughly," police official Sohail Faiz said.

In 2001, a British extremist was arrested after he tried to detonate explosives hidden in his shoes on a trans-Atlantic flight.

Pakistan's security efforts have come under scrutiny since an alleged Pakistani-trained extremist was accused of a failed car bombing in Times Square last week. Top U.S. officials have said the Pakistani Taliban were behind the plot.

Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, was targeted by authorities in the investigation into the Times Square bombing attempt. Four people with alleged links to Jaish-e-Mohammed, a militant group affiliated with al-Qaida, were detained there.


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arzafar

Junior Member
KARACHI (Reuters) – A Pakistani man arrested at Karachi airport with batteries and electrical circuits in his shoes was likely wearing "therapy shoes" and his detention could be a false alarm, officials said on Monday.

The man, identified as Faiz Mohammad, 30, was about to board a Thai Airways flight to Muscat late on Sunday when the devices were found during a routine security check.

He was not carrying any explosives nor were any other suspicious items found on him or in his luggage, an airport security official said.

Senior police investigator Niaz Khoso said the suspect had told the police that the shoes were used for massage.

"We have seen such shoes for the first time and have sent them for analysis to verify his claims," Khoso told Reuters.

"To be honest, we did not know that such shoes are available in the market but we are checking. We have not released him yet but if he is found innocent, we will let him go for sure," he said.

Mohammad was wearing the "Good Vibrations" shoes, described on a website as "designed to massage away the aches and pains throughout the day rather than after the damage is done."

Another police official said Mohammad was likely to be given a clean chit, but the investigation and formalities could take time.

Police and airport security officials had earlier said that Mohammad had placed two batteries hooked up to wires in cavities cut into the heels of each of his shoes.

They said that the devices could have been used to set off explosives.
In late 2001, a British Islamist militant, Richard Reid, tried to blow up an airliner over the Atlantic with explosives in his shoes.

Pakistan is at the center of international worries over Islamist militant bomb plots.

A Pakistan-American was arrested in the United States a week ago over a botched plot to blow up a car-bomb in New York's Times Square. The United States is convinced that Pakistani Taliban militants allied with al Qaeda were behind the failed bombing.


talk about knee-jerk reactions
(Reporting by Faisal Aziz; Editing by Chris Allbritton and Sanjeev Miglani)
 
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