Man charged over dead rebel leader
Ahmed Shah Masood was known as The Lion of Panjshir
An Egyptian man living in London has been charged with conspiracy to murder the late Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Masood.
Yasser al-Siri, 38, has been committed for trial at the Old Bailey charged with conspiring with others to murder Mr Masood, who was assassinated in Afghanistan last month.
Mr al-Siri appeared amid high security at Belmarsh magistrates' court in south east London on Tuesday morning.
He was arrested at an address in Maida Vale, west London a week ago, and has also been charged with inviting support for a banned organisation, Gamaa al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group).
Gamaa al-Islamiyya is an Islamic terror group which was blamed for the 1997 massacre of 58 tourists at Luxor in Egypt.
Taken ill
Mr al-Siri has also been charged with inviting funds for the purpose of terrorism, stirring up racial hatred and making available property for the purposes of terrorism.
Tuesday's hearing was delayed for about an hour after Mr al-Siri was taken ill.
A bail application by Mr al-Siri's solicitor,
Gareth Peirce, was refused and he was
remanded in custody by Judge Timothy
Workman to appear at the Old Bailey on 7
November.
-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001