Pakistan frees FBI agent

KARACHI, Pakistan – Pakistan freed an FBI agent on nearly $10,000 bail three days after he was detained carrying knives and ammunition in his bag, officials said, a relatively quick release that was likely to prevent the situation from escalating into a diplomatic spat.

The arrest of the American, identified as Joel Cox from the bureau’s Miami field office, came amid thawing relations between a new Pakistani government dependent on aid and a U.S. administration that needs Islamabad to help contain militancy on the border with Afghanistan.

The two countries, which have been uneasy allies since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, have seen ties strained over a series of incidents.

But Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who took office last June, and President Barack Obama have moved to ease tensions. The U.S. has released more than $1.6 billion in military and economic aid to Pakistan that was suspended in 2011, and both leaders have agreed on the need for a stable and secure Afghanistan after the NATO-led combat mission formally concludes there at the end of this year.

The American arrived in Karachi on May 1 and was detained Monday after officials found him with the ammunition, knives and electronic devices as he was preparing to board a flight to Islamabad.

Shortly after the detention, a law enforcement official in the U.S. said the FBI agent was in Pakistan as part of a multiagency, anti-corruption program and apparently did not realize that he had bullets in his bag.

The Pakistani court ordered the suspect to submit a surety bond of $9,800 for his bail, police officer Rao Anwaar said.

Other police officials said investigators were under immense pressure from the Interior Ministry and other government officials to release the American so the report was rushed. They found he had no criminal intention in carrying the bullets during domestic air travel, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.