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Strasbourg trial begins

FRANKFURT APRIL 16 . Five Islamic militants who allegedly trained at al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan went on trial in Frankfurt today, charged with planning a bomb attack in the French city of Strasbourg.

As the proceedings got under way, one of the defendants was expelled from the courtroom after he began to shout, "Allah is my defender".

Four of the five Algerian defendants stand accused of plotting to bomb a marketplace in front of the Strasbourg cathedral in December 2000, as well as of being members of a terrorist organisation.

A fifth man is accused of membership in a terrorist organisation, but is not believed to have had a link to the bombing plot.

Security was tight in Frankfurt, with police patrolling the city centre armed with automatic weapons and guards carrying out thorough searches of courtroom visitors.The beginning of the trial was delayed for about two hours to allow the media to take courtroom photographs of the accused. — AFP

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