A Bradford psychologist today told how he met the Scottish man suspected of fighting alongside Osama bin Laden at a dinner party in the city more than ten years ago.

Dr Rasjid Skinner, a consultant psychologist, revealed how he met James Alexander McLintock at a fast-breaking party during the month of Ramadan.

McLintock, 37, is reported by Pakistan authorities to have been detained at the Afghan border, close to a former terrorist training camp. He is being questioned about suspected links with bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Dr Skinner said he initially thought McLintock was a Pathaan, from the remote regions of the Pakistan and Afghanistan border, because his accent was so incomprehensible.

"I spoke to him for half an hour before realising he was Scottish. He looked very much like a Pathaan with a long beard. He said his name was Yaqub. I never thought that he could be white," he said.

Dr Skinner, 51, who converted to Islam in 1977, said Yaqub spoke a number of European languages, Arabic and Pushto.

"Yaqub was an extraordinary man who had been fighting alongside the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. In those days Russia was the enemy," said Dr Skinner.