A former US Marine who spent three months in Ireland on an outdoor adventure course faces charges of kidnap and murder.

The alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks used to be a playboy who liked lounging in five star hotels and once flew a helicopter over the office of a woman he was trying to impress.

The arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed could help unravel details of past and present terror plots in Southeast Asia, police who once hunted him in Manila said today.