The Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri has made his first appearance in a US court, which ordered that he would be held under detention till his formal arraignment a legal document calling someone to court to answer an indictmenton October 9.

54-year-old Egyptian-born Hamza, , arrived in New York yesterday along with two other terror suspects Adel Abdel Bary and Khaled al-Fawwaz on a chartered flight.

Two other suspects Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsa were flown in separately after the five men were extradited from the UK.

The indictment charges Hamza with 11 offences that carry a maximum term of life imprisonment.

The indictment alleges that Hamza was involved in a hostage-taking conspiracy in Yemen in December 1998 when the hostage-takers stormed a caravan क़ाफ़िला of sport utility vehicles carrying 16 tourists, including two United States citizens, and took the tourists hostage by force.