Four appear in UK court on terrorism charges

LONDON, Sep 12 (Reuters) Four men charged with terrorism offences were ordered to be kept in custody after appearing in a British court today, including one who is accused of undergoing terrorism training at a camp in southern England.

The men were arrested in major raids across south London last week, with 12 individuals arrested in a Chinese restaurant.

Police said the operation was designed to target people suspected of training or recruiting terrorists. It also saw detectives search an independent school for Muslim boys in southern England although no arrests were made.

Yassin Mutegombwa, 22, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London today where he was charged with three counts of receiving weapons training for terrorism in woodland near a camp site and at a farm during April and June.

Prosecutors say Mutegombwa had undergone training near the Matley Wood Caravan and Camping site in Lyndhurst, Hampshire, on England's south coast, and near a farm in Berkshire, west of London.

The charge added that ''he knew or believed that the instruction or training was being provided there wholly or partly for purposes connected with the commission or preparation of acts of terrorism''.

Mutegombwa's brother, Hassan, 20, was also in court charged with procuring funds for terrorism while two other men, Musa Akmet, 47, and Mustafa Abdullah, 24, were charged with possessing information likely to be useful to someone committing acts of terrorism.

Akmet was also charged with possessing a firearm, a 16 mm mini flare launcher, without a valid licence.

The men, all from south London, were remanded in custody. Eight other men are still being questioned by police.

The raids came just three weeks after British police said they had thwarted a suspected plot to bring down US-bound airliners over the Atlantic.

However, police said the arrests were not linked to that suspected plot.

REUTERS SAM RAI2039