UK terror suspects in court

British terror suspects charged in a plot linked to security alerts at financial targets in New York, New Jersey and Washington made their first court appearance yesterday inside a high security prison.

After being driven to London's Belmarsh prison in police vans accompanied by armed escorts and a helicopter, the eight were brought into a court room flanked by two guards each.

They were held in the dock behind glass. The suspects were ordered to be detained until they appear in a week at Britain's main criminal court, the Old Bailey.

They will be given a chance at a later date to enter a plea to charges of conspiracy to commit murder and to use explosives, chemicals or radioactive materials to cause disruption, fear or injury.

One, Dhiren Barot, 32, was also accused of having plans for four financial targets that were the subject of US alerts - the Prudential building in New Jersey, the New York Stock Exchange and Citigroup headquarters in New York, and the International Monetary Fund in Washington.

US officials have said Barot is the man they have named over the past two weeks as Abu Eissa al-Hindi or Abu Musa al-Hindi and described as a top al Qaeda operative in Britain.

The other suspects are Omar Abdur Rehman, 20, Zia Ul Haq, 25, Abdul Aziz Jalil, 31, Nadeem Tarmohamed, 26, Mohammed Naveed Bhatti, 24, Quaisir Shaffi, 25 and Junade Feroze, 28.

A ninth man arrested with them also appeared on charges of possessing an illegal firearm.