Briton faces US terror charges

A London businessman goes on trial today accused of plotting atrocities in America.

Hemant Lakhani, 69, from Hendon, is said to have offered to supply anti-aircraft guns, tanks and tons of plastic explosive to an undercover agent posing as an Islamic terrorist.

Described by friends as a "Del Boy" character, he is charged with smuggling ground-to-air missiles into the US and is also alleged to have claimed he could obtain a radioactive "dirty bomb".

The trial, in Newark, New Jersey, is expected to last two months. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison. Lakhani has spent the past 16 months in jail, during which time his appearance has changed dramatically from fullfaced with black hair to gaunt and drained with white hair.

This week he protested his innocence. He said: "I'm not a terrorist, I'm not a member of any terrorist group and not associated with any terrorist group. If I am guilty of anything, it is stupidity and greed. All I wanted to do was to make money. But I got into something I didn't know much about."

He is expected to argue that he is the victim of an entrapment operation by intelligence agents. Lakhani was secretly taped offering a buyer called "Haji" - an FBI agent posing as a Somali Muslim terrorist - to supply missiles to blow up aircraft.

He praised Osama bin Laden and the September 11 attacks and was also recorded saying "Americans are bastards". Speaking from jail, he said: "Yes, I did say those terrible things. But I didn't mean them. I'm a devout Hindu and don't believe in violence."

Lakhani has admitted brokering a deal to sell 11 Russian-made armoured vehicles to the president of Angola in 2003. But he claims he is the victim of a sting, set up by agents from American and Russian intelligence services. It is understood that MI6 also played a role in the operation.

In another recent interview, Lakhani said: "They were looking for somebody. After September 11, they couldn't find or pick up anybody. The only way to find someone was to make a scapegoat."-After his arrest in August 2003, Scotland Yard officers found catalogues of Soviet-made armaments, tanks and plastic explosive at his home.

Lakhani, originally from Gujarat in India, was a lawyer when he first arrived in London in

1958. By 1977 he claimed to earn ?150,000 a year after setting up his own garment business.

As he built his fortune, Lakhani widened his social connections, mixing in exclusive circles at polo events and parties. During one tournament at Windsor he met Prince Charles. His wife, Kusum, 67, is a social worker whose community centre near Hendon was opened by Princess Diana.

But in the West End rag trade, people still described him as "more Del Boy than Del Boy".

Martin Greene, a businessman who has known him for 35 years, said: " Everything Lakhani touches turns to dust. If he is the bloke the Americans think is a big player on the terrorist stage, they're deluding themselves."

Lakhani is charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorists, unlawful brokering of foreign defence articles, two counts of money laundering, and attempting to import merchandise into the US by means of false statements.