Man in Belfast court on al-Qaeda charges

A Filipino man appeared in a Belfast court today accused of making money and property available for Islamic terrorists linked…

A Filipino man appeared in a Belfast court today accused of making money and property available for Islamic terrorists linked to the al-Qaeda network.

Mr Jaybe Ofrasio (31) was arrested following an international police investigation centred around an alleged e-mail sent from the Far East.

Telephone records and financial transactions have also been studied as part of the inquiry, which has stretched from Australia and the Philippines to Northern Ireland, Belfast Magistrates Court heard.

Detective Inspector Mark Brown told the court the charges against the defendant related to Jemaah Islamiya, a group of Islamic fundamentalists believed to have close associations with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations.

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He said: "The nature of the evidence will be computerised, there will be financial and telephone evidence which is being looked at.

"We conducted a number of searches in Belfast and a number of searches in the Philippines and we are looking to connect them."

Mr Ofrasio, a cleaner and catering assistant whose address was given as Hawthorne Street in the city, faces two charges of making funds and property available on dates ranging between January 1st, 2003 and October 19th, 2003, knowing they would be used for terrorist purposes.

He was arrested last week with a female nurse believed to be working at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. She was later released without charge.

Mr Brown told the court the accused replied "no comment" when both charges were put to him. The detective added that he believed he could connect him with the offences.

Mr Ofrasio was remanded in custody to appear again in court on February 11th.

PA