U.S. officials continued an investigation Wednesday into an incident at Los Angeles International Airport during which an Iraqi national was detained after "suspicious" items were found in a body cavity.

Fadhel al-Maliki, 35, was taken aside for a search after he set off the alarm at a passenger screening area at the airport Tuesday morning, federal and airport officials said.

The man was turned over to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and remains in custody, pending a review of his immigration status, according to an ICE spokeswoman in Los Angeles.

Al-Maliki, who lives in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was taking a US Airways flight to Philadelphia. Officials said his green card may have expired.

The flight, which took off with al-Maliki's luggage on board, was later ordered to land in Las Vegas, where the passengers got off and the luggage was searched.

But al-Maliki's luggage was "clean," according to officials.

Al-Maliki, a former security guard, told airport screeners that he knew what had triggered the alarm, and he proceeded to remove items from his rectum, including a rock, chewing gum and thin wire filament, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

Larry Fetters, federal security director at the airport, said at news conference Tuesday that airport security officers had become alarmed because al-Maliki was acting strange and initially refused to identify the items he had hidden.

Concern that the objects might be components for an explosive device led airport authorities to call in bomb technicians as well as a hazardous materials team.

A preliminary investigation appeared to rule out a theory that al-Maliki may have been looking for weaknesses in security or was rehearsing for a terrorist act, the Times report said.

According to the report, al-Maliki said during questioning that the objects in his rectum were used to alleviate stress.

Source: Xinhua