Belgian police hold Iranian who claimed bomb plot

BRUSSELS, Oct 5 (Reuters) Belgian police are holding an Iranian who claimed to be involved in a plot to bomb a passenger plane in Belgium but have found no evidence to corroborate his story, the federal prosecutor's office said today.

''This person was arrested on September 27 around midnight after turning himself in to the police at Charleroi airport,'' prosecutor's spokeswoman Lieve Pellens said.

Pellens said the man alleged he had been involved in a plot to bomb a flight that evening from Charleroi to Dublin after he was denied boarding because his visa had expired.

''I must stress no explosives were found,'' she said, adding that police had so far found no element to substantiate the existence of a plot.

The prosecutor in charge of the probe has asked a psychiatrist to examine the man, Pellens said. However she stressed authorities were investigating the case seriously.

The man, aged about 40, describes himself as a businessman.

He was charged on September 28 with participating in terrorist activities and attempting to blow up an airplane.

The suspect told police he was approached by a man who had asked him to carry out an attack. Police are searching for the alleged mastermind.

REUTERS PB MIR BST1455