Pair to be tried in the UK for journalists' kidnap plot

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.