BRITAIN: A British man was charged yesterday with being part of a plot to carry out a bomb attack in Britain.
Mr Salahuddin Amin, who was arrested at Heathrow last week as he stepped off a flight from Pakistan, was charged with "maliciously conspiring with others to cause by explosive substances . . . an explosion likely to endanger life".
He is accused along with six Britons and a Canadian, who were arrested last year following Britain's biggest anti-terrorism operation since the September 11th attacks.
Police said then that they had seized more than half a tonne of ammonium nitrate fertiliser, which can be used to make bombs, in a west London warehouse.
The six Britons are due to go on trial in September.
Mr Amin (29), who appeared at Bow Street magistrates court yesterday, issued a statement after the hearing denying the charges and alleging he had been tortured in Pakistan.
"On April 2nd, 2004, I surrendered myself to authorities in Pakistan and was detained in the most despicable conditions for 10 months," he said in the statement read by his lawyer Fariquain Shah outside court.
"Throughout my detention I was tortured mentally and physically and subjected to interrogation by British, American and Pakistani intelligence authorities." Mr Amin, from Luton, said he was freed without charge but rearrested to his surprise when he returned to Britain.
"My only crime was I took it upon myself to provide water, food and shelter to the widows and orphans of the Afghan war," his statement said.
He was remanded in custody and will appear at London's Old Bailey central criminal court on February 21st. - (Reuters)