1 The Iraqi man portrayed as the mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing pleaded innocent Thursday after he was captured in Pakistan and secretly returned to New York.
2 Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, who fled the United States the night of the bombing two years ago, was arrested Tuesday at the Holiday Inn in Islamabad, Pakistan, officials announced Wednesday. He was brought to New York on a U.S. government plane.
3 Yousef appeared calm and spoke fewer than 10 words during the brief appearance before U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan. 'I plead not guilty,' he said in English, waving off an interpreter standing beside him.
4 The Iraqi-born Yousef, who lived most of his life in Kuwait, is charged with 11 counts relating to the bombing. The most serious charges are punishable by life in prison without parole. He told the judge he understood the indictment. The next appearance was set for Wednesday.
5 Yousef's assigned lawyer, Avraham C. Moskowitz, said he had met with him for only 30 minutes Thursday morning. He refused to comment about where his client had been for the last two years or about the arrest.
6 'He's in remarkably good spirits considering the ordeal he's been through,' Moskowitz said. 'We were able to have a meaningful discussion of the charges.'
7 President Clinton called the arrest 'a major step forward in the fight against terrorism.'
8 Authorities say Yousef, who came to the United States and applied for political asylum in 1992, bought and mixed the chemicals for the bombs that exploded Feb. 26, 1993, in a van parked under the 110-story twin towers, the world's second-tallest buildings.

Yousef ' s assigned lawyer , Avraham C . Moskowitz , said he had met with him for only 30 minutes Thursday morning . He refused to comment about where his client had been for the last two years or about the arrest .
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Why did he not comment?