BOSTON (AP) – Lawyers argued for the second day in a detention hearing to determine whether a Saudi man who was arrested at Logan International Airport for carrying pyrotechnic devices aboard would remain in custody until trial.

Police arrested Essam Mohammed Almohandis, 33, last weekend when inspectors from U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspectors found three small firecracker-like cylinders in his luggage.

On Friday, his detention hearing was continued until Tuesday, U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Samantha Martin said.

Martin said Almohandis remained in custody.

The defense has proposed releasing Almohandis, a hospital worker from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia who had made reservations to stay in Waltham while he attended training sessions to learn how to use a DNA analyzer that his hospital had purchased.

Miriam Conrad, a public defender representing Almohandis, has said her client was unfairly targeted because of strict airport security.

The devices Almohandis carried were 11/2-inch firecracker-like pieces, prosecutors said. Almohandis allegedly first testified that they were artists’ crayons and later said he was unaware of what they were and how they got into his bag.

U.S. District Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings said there was probable cause to believe that Almohandis had committed the crimes, and that the charges against him would remain.

U.S. authorities said the explosive pieces could have ignited an improvised bomb if used all together, but not necessarily individually.

If convicted, he faces up to five year in prison on the false statement charge and up to 10 years on the charge of carrying an incendiary device on an aircraft.

AP-ES-01-09-04 1933EST