Londoner on terror charge

A London computer expert has been charged with a series of al Qaeda-linked terror offences.

Babar Ahmad, 30, who worked as a website administrator at Imperial College, faces charges that identify him as a key figure in Osama bin Laden's London operation.

He has been formally indicted over supporting terrorism, conspiring to kill Americans, laundering money and using

US-based websites to recruit fighters. Ahmad was arrested in London in August and is now fighting extradition to the United States.

Charges brought in the US yesterday accuse him of recruiting al Qaeda, Taliban and Chechen fighters and equipping them with gas masks, nightvision goggles and camouflage gear.

The charges were filed in Connecticut because Ahmad allegedly used an internet service provider in the state to host one of his sites. Ahmad is alleged to have run several sites, including Azzam.com, which investigators say was used to promote "holy war" and funnel money to terrorists.

The website allegedly encouraged people to train in street combat, landmine operations and sniper combat. Financial donors were told to smuggle cash into Pakistan and pass it to the Taliban's consul general, investigators said. US attorney Kevin O'Connor said: "If you're supporting the Taliban and the Taliban is killing American soldiers, we're alleging you're conspiring to kill American citizens abroad."

Previous US reports claim Ahmad might be related to the al-Qaeda communications chief Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan.

He was first arrested by British police in December last year at his home in Tooting.

He was released six days later because police decided there was not enough evidence to pursue charges.

Ahmad later issued a formal complaint against police, claiming he had been beaten. But after US authorities compiled their own dossier he was arrested on an international warrant near Imperial College. Investigators said Ahmad also obtained classified military documents describing the movements and formations of a navy battle group. He was exchanging emails with an enlisted man aboard the destroyer USS Benfold.

Authorities have not identified the man, who investigators said was sympathetic to the "jihad cause". The navy documents described the Benfold's vulnerabilities to attacks by small boats, prosecutors said.

Ahmad is also charged with maintaining email contact with a Chechen rebel leader with links to plotting the Moscow theatre bombing in which 140 people died. Chechen rebels and their supporters have been blamed or taken responsibility for several terrorist acts in Russia, including the hostage-taking at a school last month in which more than 430 people were killed.

Ahmad said little during his August court appearance in London. When asked if he understood the charges against him, he replied: "Not really. It's all a bit confusing to me." Asked if he agreed to be extradited, he said: "No. I don't want to go."

Since his arrest, Ahmad's father has made an impassioned defence of his son.

Retired civil servant Ashfaq Ahmad, 69, ridiculed the charges against his son, saying: "Do you really believe that a young lad from a place like Tooting could possibly be planning an attack against an aircraft carrier of the navy of the world superpower?"