A Pakistani man faces up to three years in jail after allegedly making a hoax call about a planned suicide attack against the United States Consulate in Karachi, apparently to avenge a rebuff in love, police said on Tuesday.
Mohammed Imran, 27, was arrested on Monday after an August 29 call he made to the US Embassy in the capital Islamabad, claiming two men were planning an attack on the consulate, said Baharuddin Babar, a Karachi police official.
The two men were investigated but 'they have nothing to do with any kind of terrorism,' Babar said. He added that they are relatives of a 23-year-old woman Imran loved and they had stopped him from meeting or speaking with her.
"He tried to ensnare them," Babar said. "He thought they would be held for a long time for investigation." He said that Imran, who is jobless, confessed to making the call.
Imran faces up to three years in jail for causing a security scare, making a false statement and misusing the telephone. He is scheduled to appear in a Karachi court tomorrow.
US officials were not immediately available for comment. Islamic militants have targeted the US Consulate in this southern Pakistani city before. In June 2002, a car bomb outside the consulate killed 14 Pakistanis.
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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