'Bin Laden lieutenant' held in solitary

A man under arrest in New York has been named by federal investigators as a chief suspect in the 11 September attacks.

Nabil al Marabh was arrested in Chicago eight days after the hijacked jets crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. He is believed to be a key lieutenant of Osama bin Laden and had lived for six years in Toronto.

Al Marabh, who denies any involvement, is being held in solitary confinement. Meanwhile, Italian investigators who bugged the apartment of a 33-year-old Tunisian man have produced evidence that a network of Bin Laden-trained terrorists is operating in half a dozen European countries.

The Tunisian, Essid Sami Ben Khemais, moved to Milan in 1998 after training for two years at an al Qaeda camp, the investigators said. Mr Khemais was put under surveillance by the Italian authorities, who unearthed a wealth of new information about Islamic terrorist cells working across Europe. It is feared that many members of the network may still be at large.

A senior Italian official said: "Before 11 September we had no idea of the depth of the problem."