Man with explosives held

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Jamaican accused of trying to check a bag containing pipe-bomb-making materials onto a plane told the FBI he wanted to show friends how to build explosives like he saw in Iraq, according to documents released yesterday.

The FBI was trying to determine whether Kevin Brown was ever in Iraq. Investigators noted that he first told them he wanted to detonate the materials on a tree stump in Jamaica.

Mr. Brown did not speak yesterday at a brief court hearing where he was ordered held without bail while prosecutors reviewed his mental health records.

Mr. Brown, 32, was arrested Tuesday at Orlando International Airport after checking luggage for an Air Jamaica flight. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) behavior specialists spotted him acting suspiciously in the ticketing area, so investigators searched his baggage and found the unassembled bomb-making materials, authorities said.

Clarence Counts, Mr. Brown’s court-appointed public defender, declined to comment as he prepared for a formal bond hearing today.

The FBI said TSA officials searched Mr. Brown’s checked luggage before it was put onto the plane. It had two glass vodka bottles containing nitromethane, a colorless liquid used as a fuel for drag racing, in manufacturing and as a cleaning solvent. Mr. Brown said he had hoped the liquor bottles would disguise the nitromethane, the FBI said in a court filing.

The baggage also had a model rocket ignitor, galvanized pipes, end caps, two small containers containing BBs, batteries, a laptop and instructions on how to make bombs, the FBI stated in court papers.

Mr. Brown is charged with one count of attempting to carry an explosive or incendiary device onto an aircraft. The FBI said it thought his most recent address was in Gainesville.

Air Jamaica Executive Director Shirley Williams said the items could not have caused an explosion and that the aircraft and its passengers were never at risk.

Jamaica’s prime minister has ordered the Jamaica Constabulary Force to conduct is own investigation into Mr. Brown’s activities in that country.

The FBI said it thought Mr. Brown was in the United States legally.