Abu Anas al-Libi looks frail and tired as he appears in US court Heavier-set than in his "wanted" photograph, he had a thick grey beard that was part-dyed orange. He wore a green T-shirt, black sweatshirt, baggy grey tracksuit bottoms and flip-flops over socks. Accompanied by two legal-aid attorneys, he sat with his hands in his lap and stared ahead at the judge. A Koran bound in green leather, which his lawyers said he had requested, sat unopened in front of him. Mr al-Ruqai, do you speak English? Judge Kaplan asked. "No I don't," he said, in a gravelly voice. He confirmed his name, his age, and agreed he was to be represented by the lawyers. He was formally charged with conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim Americans, to damage and destroy US buildings and property, and to attack US national defence facilities. Prosecutors allege in a 157-page indictment that he carried out surveillance on the US embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, from 1993, taking photographs that were later inspected by Osama bin Laden. Bombs were detonated at the US embassies in Nairobi and in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in August 1998, killing 224 people, including a dozen Americans, and wounding more than 4,000. Do you understand what I've said? "Yes," said al-Libi. After saying he could not afford to recruit an attorney, he was told one would be appointed by the court to represent him. Al-Qaeda operatives have testified that al-Libi was the computer expert in a core group of senior Islamists from the group's early days in Sudan. He is believed to have been granted asylum in Britain in 1995 on the grounds that he was under threat from Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan regime. He lived for roughly five years in Moss Side, Manchester, where his family say he worked in a pizza restaurant, and was questioned under suspicion of terrorism in 1999. However, he fled Britain before being indicted by the US in 2000. He had been on the run ever since and was among the FBI's most wanted fugitives. A $25 million reward was offered for information leading to his arrest, before being reduced to $5 million. He was finally snatched from the street near his home in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, by US commandoes on Oct 5. It emerged in court last night that he was not formally arrested for another week after he was seized. Critics have accused President Barack Obama of continuing controversial detention policies introduced by George W Bush, despite explicitly banning the use of torture. Al-Libi's relatives deny he was ever a member of al-Qaeda. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted. Prosecutors told the judge last night that he was not eligible for the death penalty. He was handcuffed and led out of court after the brief hearing and is due back in court on the afternoon of Oct 22.