DHAKA: A court in Pakistan has granted bail to an agent with the US FBI who was arrested for carrying ammunition while trying to board a flight in Karachi.

The agent was released after paying a bail bond of 1 million rupees and handed to the US consulate.

He was held under anti-terrorism laws after security staff found 15 bullets for a 9mm handgun in his luggage ahead of a flight to Islamabad.

The US says he was on a temporary assignment in Pakistan.

US officials have said the man was accidentally carrying the ammunition in his luggage when he was detained on Monday night.

They have refused to reveal his identity but he has been named in Pakistan.

On Wednesday, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed the man was an FBI employee ‘on temporary duty assignment to provide routine assistance to the legal attache at the US mission’.

‘We are co-ordinating with Pakistani authorities to resolve this matter,’ she said. ‘We are working closely with them.’

BDST: 2118 HRS, MAY 08, 2014