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A British IS fighter who died in a suicide bomb attack on Iraqi forces in Mosul is a former Guantanamo Bay detainee.

The self-styled Islamic State group said two days ago that Abu-Zakariya al-Britani detonated a car bomb at an Iraqi army base in Tal Gaysum, south-west of Mosul. He is believed to have been originally known as Ronald Fiddler.

Fiddler, 50 and from Manchester, was sent to Guantanamo Bay in 2002.

IS has now published a photograph of Fiddler, who was also known as Jamal al-Harith before taking the nom-de-guerre Abu-Zakariya al-Britani. He had been seized by US forces in Pakistan in 2001, before being sent to Guantanamo. US interrogators found he provided useful information to them about the Taliban’s methods, and he was released after two years.

The Daily Mail reported Fiddler received a million pounds in compensation from the government when he came back to the UK.

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An «influential» imam accused of encouraging support for so-called Islamic State at a mosque has appeared in court.

Kamran Sabir Hussain faces eight terrorism charges in connection with his work in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent.

He is accused of influencing his congregation to carry out terrorist acts. The 39-year-old, of Knightsbridge Way, Tunstall, was remanded in custody at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

Prosecutor Karen Jones described Mr Hussain as a «prominent and influential person in the community».

The offences are alleged to have taken place between June and September 2016 at the mosque, based at 229 High Street.

Mr Hussain is accused of publishing a statement which intended, or was reckless, as to whether members of the public would be encouraged or induced by the statement to commit, prepare or instigate acts of terrorism.

Matt Foot, defending, told the court Mr Hussain intended to plead not guilty. He is scheduled to appear at the Old Bailey on 17 March.

Three people have been arrested in France on suspicion of plotting a terrorism attack, police sources say.

A bomb disposal squad was called in to sweep the home of one of the suspects, in the central city of Clermont-Ferrand, French media say. The other two arrests were reportedly in Marseille and in the Paris region.

France is on high alert after a series of deadly attacks in recent years by militants claiming to be from the Islamic State group. Few details of Tuesday’s arrests are yet known.

One source told Reuters news agency that the suspects were arrested «as part of a preliminary investigation started in January on suspicion of leaving for Syria or committing an act in France». Another police source quoted in Le Monde said the plot was sufficiently advanced that the French intelligence agency, the DGSI, decided to intervene.

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At least 34 people have been killed and about 50 injured in a car bomb blast in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The car blew up in the city’s southern Madina district, officials say. The blast — which ripped through shops and food stalls — is the first major attack in the capital since the election of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed earlier this month.

No group has claimed responsibility, although al-Shabab militants are likely to be the prime suspects.

On Saturday a senior al-Shabab commander vowed to target the president’s supporters.

Sheikh Hassan Yaqub said that anyone who collaborated with the new president — who he described as evil-minded — would be at risk of attack by the Islamist group.

President Mohamed has condemned the bombing, accusing al-Shabab of being behind the attack. He urged Somalis to unite against the group’s brutality.

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The mastermind of numerous bomb plots in New York in the early 1990s has died in prison in the US, his family says.

Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, a blind cleric who preached at mosques in New York, was sentenced to life in 1996 for planning the attacks.

He plotted to attack multiple landmarks in New York with the aim of stopping US support for Israel and Egypt. He was accused of inspiring the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, but was not convicted over that attack.

The judge at his trial said that if his plans had been enacted, thousands of people would have died.

Sheikh Rahman’s death was announced in the Egyptian capital Cairo by his family. Often referred to in the US as the Blind Sheikh, Rahman was also suspected of roles in numerous other violent attacks in Egypt in addition to developing close links with al-Qaeda.

Rahman and nine others were convicted of planning a «war of urban terrorism» in the US which would have culminated in five bombings of prominent New York landmarks including the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels.

The prosecution maintained that the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center was also part of the conspiracy, but neither Rahman nor his co-defendants were formally accused of any role in that attack. Six people died in the 1993 attack.