Pilot tells of terror charge 'nightmare'

Algerian pilot Lotfi Raissi today spoke of his "living nightmare" at the hands of the US government and the FBI.

The US accused Mr Raissi of training the suicide hijackers who crashed a passenger jet into the Pentagon on 11 September.

He was held at the high security Belmarsh Prison in southeast London for five months pending extradition to the US but was released on bail on Tuesday as no terrorism charges had been brought.

Mr Raissi, 27, said at a press conference today: "You cannot begin to consider what it is like to have the world's media along with the government of the United States believing that you are responsible for the most dreadful act of terrorism the world has ever seen."

Sitting with his wife, Sonia, and his solicitor, Richard Egan, Mr Raissi added: "Those five months destroyed me and all those dear to me and I don't know if I will ever recover from the experience."

The US sought to extradite Mr Raissi on two counts of falsifying an application for a US pilot's licence, alleging that he hid a 1993 conviction for theft and had failed to mention a knee operation. Mr Egan said his client would be fighting these charges.

After condemning terrorism and offering his sympathy to the victims of the attacks, Mr Raissi said he would try to rebuild his life.