Pakistani court seek details on arrested FBI agent

A court in Pakistan Saturday asked police to submit details of the case of an agent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who was arrested for carrying ammunition at an airport.

Police said Joel Cox was arrested Monday evening while attempting to board a domestic flight in the port city of Karachi to the capital Islamabad, when the Airport Security Force (ASF) discovered 15 bullets of 9 mm calibre and a pistol clip in his baggage.

Cox appeared before a court in Karachi Saturday and investigators requested for more time to complete their investigation, Xinhua reported.

The court accepted the plea and ordered police to submit the investigation details of the case May 19. The judge also asked Cox to appear before the court at the next hearing.

A local judge in Karachi earlier handed over the US national to the police for questioning until May 10. However, the district and sessions judge in Karachi's Malir area Thursday accepted Cox's bail plea and ordered his release.

Bail was granted to Cox on a surety of Pakistani Rs.1 million (nearly $10,150). The American national told the court that the ammunition found in his bag was not his own and that he was being implicated in the case.

US authorities claimed that Cox was in Pakistan for police training.

However, a Karachi police officer said investigators had not found anything to substantiate that he was in the country for training.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said earlier the American national was not a diplomat and did not enjoy diplomatic immunity.