US experts gave evidence in Belfast yesterday in the trial of an Algerian man accused of links to al-Qaeda.
Abbas Boutrab (32) was arrested near Belfast in 2003 with 25 computer disks filled with instructions on building compact bombs and other weapons and on smuggling them onto a plane. He denies any terrorism links, insisting he downloaded the material from the Internet out of curiosity.
Mr Boutrab did not speak at yesterday's hearing. His trial in Belfast Crown Court is being held without a jury, an often-criticised system ordinarily used to prosecute paramilitaries.
Prosecutors contend that Boutrab - who unsuccessfully sought asylum in The Netherlands, the Republic and the United Kingdom using several aliases - has links to al-Qaeda. They cite mobile phone records and other unspecified documents seized at his home.
Donald Sachtleben, an FBI explosives expert, testified that he built and detonated three bombs based on instructions found in Mr Boutrab's home.
Mr Sachtleben said the tests - involving a seven-ounce mixture of potassium chlorate, sulphur, sugar and baby powder - demonstrated the bottle bombs could be exploded in a car or plane. He said the last test showed the explosion could tear apart nearby passenger seats and puncture a plane's fuselage.
Another FBI investigator, Robert Keller, showed the court videotape of the test explosions, which were carried out at an FBI facility in Virginia last December.
At the time of his arrest, Mr Boutrab was seeking work in the North using a false passport in the name of Fabio Parenti, an Italian tourist whose passport was stolen at Dublin airport in September 2001.
Police initially arrested Boutrab on suspicion of being an illegal immigrant, but allegedly found the bomb instructions during a search of his home.