Filipino seaman on probation

A Filipino seafarer who was held by U.S. authorities for attempting to take a bladed weapon aboard a commercial flight was put on three months probation by a federal court, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said.

The decision by the U.S. federal court in New Orleans to put Mariano Condat on probation allowed him to avoid a possible 10-year jail term for trying to smuggle four "utility knives" in his hand luggage on April 4 aboard an American Airlines flight at New Orleans' Louis Armstrong International Airport.

According to the Foreign Department, Condat's lawyer contended that his client was not aware of the regulation concerning the carrying of bladed weapons aboard commercial flights.