Two Algerian men accused of being members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network were remanded in custody today after making a brief court appearance in the English city of Leicester.
Mr Baghdad Meziane (36) and Mr Brahim Benmerzouga (30) were flanked by six police officers during their 12-minute appearance, a court official said. An interpreter translated the proceedings into French and the pair spoke only to confirm their names.
The men, who have also been charged with financing terrorism, were arrested last week as part of a pan-European investigation into the September 11th attacks on the United States.
They were remanded in custody and will next appear in court on June 12th. The pair are the first people in Britain has charged with membership of al-Qaeda since it was put on a list of proscribed groups.
Britain has tightened the net on Islamic militants since the attacks on the US. Senior legal sources said in November that the United States had uncovered an Algerian cell with links to al-Qaeda operating in Britain.
The American authorities urged London to close in on the group as part of a lengthy legal process to extradite Mr Lotfi Raissi, a 27-year-old Algerian alleged to have trained the hijacker pilots for the September 11th attacks, the sources said.
Mr Raissi has been in custody since his arrest in September.