Oct 13, 2008 2:15 pm US/Eastern
Pakistan: American Arrested Near Afghan Border
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) ―
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A Pakistani officer said a 20-year-old American man was arrested late Monday at a checkpoint in Charsadda, near the tribal region of Bajur in Pakistan. (File)
Tariq Mahmood/AFP/Getty Images
A 20-year-old American man was arrested late Monday at a checkpoint near the Afghan border in a tribal region where Pakistani troops are fighting Taliban and al Qaeda militants, a police officer said.
Officers were investigating what the man was doing in the border area, which is believed to be a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden and other foreign extremists, said the officer, Pir Shahab.
He said the man -- identified on his passport as Juddi Kenan -- did not have permission to be in the region as is required by Pakistani law. He was arrested at a checkpoint trying to enter Mohmand agency, Shahab said.
"He is holding an American passport, which shows him as a resident of Florida," Shahab said.
A U.S. embassy spokesman said he had no information on the arrest.
Asked whether he was believed to be a journalist, a tourist, a researcher, or a suspected militant, Shahab said: "These are the questions we are trying to investigate."
Militants in the tribal regency are blamed for rising attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Pakistani authorities often claim to kill or arrest foreign extremists, mostly from Afghanistan, the Middle East and Chechnya, in the area.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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