He told another resident he would be prepared to take a bomb to a public place in England

Toby Hedworth, QC

He was interviewed by immigration officials, and after claiming to be a stowaway seeking political asylum was granted temporary leave to stay in England.

He was later found a place on a drama and arts course at a local college.

It was while staying in refugee accommodation that he allegedly bragged about his delight at the attack on the World Trade Center.

Toby Hedworth, QC, prosecuting, told the jury that membership of the military side of the Hamas organisation was illegal.

He said: "The defendant was multi-lingual and associated mainly with Middle-Eastern males.

"He said he would kill Israelis wherever he saw them in England and showed great delight in the bombing of the twin towers and expressed support of bin Laden.

"Around 11 September he told another resident he would be prepared to take a bomb to a public place in England... and blow it up if he was asked to do so and said `This was Jihad' and said `I swear to God I will do this'."

Drama course

Mr Hedworth said Mr Abdelah also "spoke comfortably" of killing people and suicide bombing.

He added that Mr Abdelah repeated his proud boasts at North Tyneside College, where he had a place on a drama course.

The court heard that during one group lecture Mr Abdelah claimed to have a family name of bin Laden.

He also told the group that he was a member of Hamas and that he knew how to obtain guns and how to use them.

His behaviour was reported to the authorities and on 10 December 2001 and he was arrested.

Mr Abdelah 'supported' Osama bin Laden

Mr Abdelah, of Bavington Drive, Fenham, Newcastle, has denied that between April 2001 and December 2001 he had membership of a prescribed organisation, namely Hamas iz al-din al-quezzem.

The court heard on Thursday Mr Abdelah constantly changed his story about how he had travelled across Europe before arriving in England.

In one interview he said he had left Hamas because it was killing innocent people.

He said he had fled Palestine because the Israeli police had killed his brother and that he had been called a traitor by Hamas after protesting about its attacks on civilians.

Mr Abdelah also faces a related charge of intimidating a witness, following a letter allegedly sent to his college lecturer.

The trial continues.