British anti-terror police say they have charged a man with conspiring with convicted "shoebomber" Richard Reid to carry out bomb attacks in Britain or elsewhere in the world.
Mr Sajid Badat (24), who was arrested at his home in Gloucester last week, also faces two other charges of possessing explosives. He is due to appear in court in London on Thursday.
Reid, a follower of Osama bin Laden whose al-Qaeda group is blamed for the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, was jailed for life in January in the United States after admitting to trying to blow up a transatlantic airliner using explosives hidden in his shoe.
Last Thursday's arrest of Mr Badat, who was said to have "connections with the network of al Qaeda groups" by Home Secretary David Blunkett, shocked fellow Muslims in his quiet home town. They described him as a "nice, polite kid".
Mr Badat now faces a charge that he "unlawfully and maliciously conspired with Reid and others unknown to cause by an explosive device an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property in the United Kingdom or elsewhere."
Reid, a former burglar from Brixton in south London, was overpowered by crew and passengers when he tried to ignite the explosives on board an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami in December, 2001.
The Islamic convert claimed he was a soldier involved in a religious war with the United States.