Sky News: A terror suspect who was arrested yards from Downing Street has appeared in court charged with preparing acts of terrorism in the UK, as well as possessing explosives in Afghanistan five years ago.
Khalid Mohamed Omar Ali was arrested by armed police in Whitehall on 27 April.
It is alleged he was carrying three knives when he was detained in the heart of Westminster.
The 27-year-old’s two charges of possessing explosives stem from the recovery by US forces of two caches of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan in 2012.
Ali was handcuffed and dressed in a grey tracksuit in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
He sat with two plain-clothed police officers and four security guards – two of whom wore blue forensic gloves and sat closely either side, watching him intently.
Ali, from Edmonton in north London, told the court he did not want to be represented by a solicitor.
He said he did not recognise the court and refused to plead to the three charges he faces. Formal not guilty pleas were recorded.
Ali did not ask for bail and was remanded in custody before another court appearance at the Old Bailey on 19 May.
