Al-Qaeda accused faces US court

An alleged al-Qaeda agent has appeared in a US criminal court after more than five years in military custody.

Following a review of his case ordered by President Barack Obama, Ali al-Marri was charged with supporting terrorism.

The 43-year-old confirmed he understood the charges at a court in South Carolina, and is now expected to be transferred to Illinois for trial.

Mr Marri, a joint Saudi-Qatari national, has not yet entered a plea. His lawyers say he denies the charges.

He was arrested shortly after the attacks on New York and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001 and charged with credit-card fraud.

Two years later, the US authorities deemed him an enemy combatant and under powers allowing the then US President, George W Bush, to detain terrorism suspects indefinitely without charge, he was transferred to a naval jail in South Carolina.

The US authorities have alleged that he met Osama Bin Laden and volunteered for a suicide mission while he was a student in Illinois.

As well as the terrorism charge, he faces one count of conspiracy.

The charges carry a maximum of 30 years in jail.