Pakistanis Release Arrested American Man
Pakistani police have freed a 20-year-old American man who was arrested a in a militant-infested area close to the Afghan border earlier in the week, officials tell CBS News.
Pakistani police say the man, identified earlier as Juddi Kenan, holds a U.S. passport but his father is Pakistani, and he currently lives in the northwestern city of Peshawar. His identity has not been confirmed.
The police, who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter, said he was released after his business in the region was investigated. He was apparently in the region visiting friends.
Officials at the American Embassy in Islamabad could not confirm the man's release, but would say only that a U.S. citizen was arrested in the Mohmand agency on Oct. 13. Consular officials met with him and were "extending their full support to him."
The frontier region has seen months of fighting between militants and security forces and is considered a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden and other foreign extremists.
Police officer Pir Shahab said the man's passport identified him as Juddi Kenan. Police arrested him late Monday at a checkpoint as he tried to enter the Mohmand tribal area without the necessary permission.
Another police official, Marjan Khan, said Tuesday the man was arrested wearing traditional Pakistani dress and appeared to be a civilian.
"He has told us that he was a student at a community college in Florida and wanted to enter the tribal region to see a friend," Khan said.
He said the man was carrying a laptop computer and a travel bag, adding that he had been moved to an undisclosed location for questioning.
Pakistani officials told CBS News that nothing found in the laptop raised their suspicions.
Militants in the tribal area 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 border area.