American contractor arrested with explosives in Tikrit

I haven't seen this anywhere else today, so .... (Reuters)

Iraqi police detained an American private security contractor working at a U.S. military base in northern Iraq for several hours on Tuesday, a U.S. military spokesman said.

The spokesman said the man was arrested at a checkpoint in the northern town of Tikrit. He denied initial reports that explosives were found in the car, but said two AK-47 assault rifles were in the vehicle.

"He was picked up by Iraqi police after being detained at a checkpoint in Tikrit," the spokesman said, adding police later released him. "We are looking at why he left the base unescorted."

I don't know if anybody remembers when the two British special forces guys were arrested in Basra awhile back completely undercover with explosives in the back of their car, but this is curious to me.

The most reasonable explanation is that this contractor was engaging in some sort of sting or an effort to get closer to an insurgent group by showing them, selling them, giving them(?) explosives. But it's still just a little odd that on two occasions coalition personnel have been caught undercover ferrying explosives around Iraq in the trunk of a car.