A Jordanian-born American suspected of being an al-Qaeda trainee has been arrested at Detroit airport allegedly carrying $12 million (�8 million) in forged cheques.

Omar Shishani, 47, was detained on Wednesday when he arrived at the city's Metropolitan Airport, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

It said that US officials believed Mr Shishani had trained at camps in Afghanistan.

Mr Shishani's home in Dearborn, Michigan, where he lives with his wife, was searched on Thursday.

Watch list

Officials said Mr Shishani's name appeared on a watch list of people trained in Afghanistan and also in papers found in the country.

It was not known how the cheques would have been used, but they were "extremely well made'', according to the paper.

An unnamed official said: ''We don't know what he was up to, but he was coming from Indonesia, he had $12 million in bogus cheques... he was born in Jordan and his family is from Chechnya. "

US airports have much tighter security since 11 September

Authorities at the FBI made no immediate comment on the report.

Mr Shishani had told officials he was a naturalised American citizen and was carrying a passport.

He will remain in custody until a detention hearing on Wednesday.

The US has linked Muslim rebels in Indonesia to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, which Washington blames for the 11 September terrorist attacks.