Man with explosives detained at airport

Man with explosives detained at airport

MIDLAND, Texas

A man was detained Saturday after trying to go through a security checkpoint at a Texas airport with explosives in military-grade wrapping, federal and local officials said.

The man was stopped when Transportation Security Administration officers detected a suspicious item in a carry-on bag during X-ray screening, the TSA said in a statement. City of Midland spokeswoman Tasa Watts said he was detained by the FBI, and she had no information on him.

FBI spokesman Mike Martinez confirmed a man was detained at the airport and the agency is investigating.

He declined to say whether the man was in military uniform or how many pieces of explosives were found in the bag.

Martinez said he did not know where the man was being held, saying he was at either the airport or at the FBI office in Midland.

Nigeria declares state of emergency

ABUJA, Nigeria

Nigeria’s president on Saturday declared a state of emergency in parts of Africa’s most populous nation after a recent slew of deadly attacks blamed on a radical Muslim sect killed dozens of people.

President Goodluck Jonathan declared an indefinite state of emergency in four states, which would all allow security agencies there to make arrests without proof and conduct searches without warrants. He also ordered the closure of international borders near the affected areas.

They include parts of northeastern state of Yobe and the central states of Plateau and Niger, all hit by the Christmas Day attacks that left at least 42 people dead, for which a radical sect known as Boko Haram claimed responsibility. Attackers targeted churches and one of the state offices of Nigeria’s secret police.

Iran backs off threat to close oil route

TEHRAN, Iran

Talk of blocking the strategic oil route through the Strait of Hormuz is a discussion of the past, a commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Saturday in comments that seemed to back away from an earlier threat. But he said Iran had other, unspecified strategies for reacting to any Western aggression.

“Discourse about closing the Strait of Hormuz belongs to five years ago. Today’s debate in the Islamic Republic of Iran contains new layers, and the time has not come to raise it,” Gen. Masoud Jazayeri said in comments posted Saturday on the Guard’s website, sepahnews.com.

Jazayeri did not elaborate.

Vice President Mohamed Reza Rahimi threatened Tuesday to close the strait, cutting off oil exports, if the West imposes sanctions on Iran’s oil shipments.

Yemen’s president to stay in country

SANAA, Yemen

Yemen’s outgoing president decided to stay in the country, reversing plans to leave, his ruling party said Saturday, in an apparent attempt to salvage his control over the regime, which has appeared to unravel in the face of internal revolts and relentless street protests.

In a sign of the fraying, the son and nephew of President Ali Abdullah Saleh launched a crackdown on suspected dissidents within the ranks of the elite security services they command, officials within the services said. The Republic Guard, led by the son, and Central Security, led by the nephew, have been the main forces used in trying to suppress the uprising against Saleh’s rule the past year.

Associated Press