London - AFP
A man charged with the kidnapping of two Western journalists by Islamic extremists in Syria will go on trial with another suspect in June, he was told when he appeared in a British court on Thursday.
Jubayer Chowdhury, 24, of no fixed address, appeared by videolink at the Old Bailey, the central criminal court in London, and was remanded in custody for a preliminary hearing in April.
He will be tried with a British trainee doctor, Shajul Islam, 26, on a charge of imprisoning a British photographer and a Dutch journalist against their will in July while they were covering the Syrian conflict.
The trial will start at the Old Bailey on June 5 and is expected to last six weeks.
Chowdhury was arrested by counter-terrorism police at London\'s Heathrow Airport last month after arriving on a flight from Bahrain.
Islam was detained at Heathrow in October after arriving on a flight from Egypt.