A BRITISH terrorist suspect deported from Zambia had attended an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan, become a combat training expert and met Osama bin Laden, a court was told yesterday.

Haroon Rashid Aswat, 31, appeared before Bow Street magistrates, sitting in Belmarsh prison, southeast London, less than 24 hours after a specially chartered jet brought him back to Britain.

Mr Aswat, from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was arrested upon landing on a provisional extradition warrant issued by the United States.

He is accused by the US authorities of attempting to establish a jihad training camp in Oregon in 1999. The court was told that Mr Aswat was sent to America by a London-based cleric to assess the suitability of a ranch for a base at Bly, Oregon.

The intention was to train British and American recruits in martial arts, hand-to-hand combat and weapons to fight the jihad in Afghanistan.

Hugo Keith, for the US Government, said that it was alleged that Mr Aswat brought with him CD-Roms containing instructions in explosives and poisons training.

Witnesses had heard Mr Aswat stating that he had expertise in combat training and had met bin Laden in Afghanistan. He was in the US from November 1999 until April 2000.

Mr Keith said that his passport showed that he had since travelled in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa.

Mr Keith said that when he was arrested in Zambia, on immigration offences, Mr Aswat had most of his personal belongings with him in his car. It was evidence, he suggested, of “a nomadic lifestyle”.

There were a number of witnesses willing to testify in the US, including James Ujaama, who had allegedly collaborated with Mr Aswat on the plan for the camp.

Hussein Zahir, for the defence, said that Mr Aswat had no connections to terrorism and denied the allegations.

Mr Aswat was asked if he consented to being returned to the US to face the charges against him, which could carry a 15-year jail sentence. He replied: “At the moment, no.”

Mr Aswat was remanded in custody and will reappear in court on Thursday.

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