Paris bomb suspect goes on trial

Rachid Ramda (in yellow and green) faces a possible second trial

An Algerian man has gone on trial in France accused of being involved in the Paris Metro system bombings in 1995 which left eight people dead.

Rachid Ramda, 35, was extradited from the UK in December after a 10-year legal battle in which he insisted he would face inhuman treatment in France.

Mr Ramda is charged with providing logistical support to those who carried out the three attacks.

He faces a possible second trial on murder charges relating to the attacks.

Four years ago, a French court sentenced two Algerians to life imprisonment for the attacks.

Delay bid

They had already been convicted in 1999 of belonging to the Armed Islamic Group or GIA, which said it carried out the bombings.

Mr Ramda spent 10 years in detention in the UK awaiting extradition.

Mr Ramda's lawyer, Guillaume Barbe, has said he will seek to have the trial postponed until the end of a police investigation into the alleged torture of Islamic militants arrested in the wake of the attacks.

The allegations have been published in a book which includes accounts by five former police officers who say suspects were beaten and given electric shocks.