Faryadi Sarwar Zardad denies torture and hostage charges

Faryadi Sarwar Zardad, of Streatham, south London, denies the offences said to date from 31 December 1991 to 30 September 1996.

The 41-year-old told the Old Bailey: "I have never tortured anyone."

He is the first to be tried in the UK under the Criminal Justice Act, which allows alleged torturers to be tried regardless of where their "crime" was.

Using an interpreter, Mr Zardad said he had "never" taken hostages and that he had "given orders" against torture.

'Militia member'

Giving details of his background in Afghanistan to his barrister, Anthony Jennings QC, Mr Zardad told the court he had five brothers and three sisters and that the family had owned land which it worked.

He said that he was 16 at the time of the communist coup and that after the Russians subsequently entered the country he left home to live in a tent in Pakistan - along with two million others.

His father had become a commander in the Afghan mujahideen, which had support from the United States, Britain, China, Saudi Arabia and other countries, Mr Zardad said.

"We fought against the Russians a lot," he told the Old Bailey.

Asked whether he had been a commander in the uniformed army, Mr Zardad said he had been a member of the militia but not a military commander.

'Defending Sarobi'

It is alleged Mr Zardad was a warlord in charge of the Sarobi area outside the Afghan capital Kabul at a time of much internal fighting.

The court has heard claims he would force people going through his military checkpoints to hand over money and goods.

It is also claimed he stopped supplies getting through to a rival party in Kabul.

Mr Zardad has denied stopping people at checkpoints or vehicles carrying food, saying he and his men were only there to defend the area.

The court has also been shown a video of Mr Zardad addressing members of the mujahideen and others at a base.

He told the court: "I was advising the men not to do bad things."

A number of witnesses, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have given evidence from a specially-prepared room in the British Embassy in Kabul, which is being used as an extension of the Central Criminal Court in London.