Al-Qaida suspect guilty of terror charges

An Islamic al-Qaida suspect was found guilty of terrorist charges in Belfast today.

Abbas Boutrab, 27, was found guilty of possessing articles for purposes connected with terrorism.

They included 25 computer disks of Islamic detail of instruction on how to blow up an aircraft.

He was the first al-Qaida suspect to be tried in Northern Ireland under the non-jury Diplock court system which had only previously been used for the trial of Loyalist and Republican terrorists.

Mr Justice Weatherup delivered three guilty verdicts after considering evidence he heard during the six-week trial. He said he would pass sentence on December 19.

The trial heard that Boutrab, who was also charged under a series of aliases, had downloaded the information from the internet at Belfast Central Library on January 23, 2003.

The Algerian, who was arrested the following April, was also found guilty of possessing a false Italian passport.