New York --

The fiery Islamic preacher who was flown to the United States from Britain over the weekend after a lengthy extradition battle pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges Tuesday in a Manhattan courtroom.

The preacher, known as Abu Hamza al-Masri, told a judge that he wanted to be addressed as Mustafa Kamal Mustafa, which is his birth name.

The judge, Katherine B. Forrest of U.S. District Court, set a trial date of Aug. 26; the trial is expected to last six to eight weeks. The judge said she wanted to get the case to trial "as quickly as we can."

Mustafa, 54, is charged with conspiring in a 1998 kidnapping of American and other tourists in Yemen and in trying to help set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon.

Mustafa, who once roused militants with sermons at the Finsbury Park mosque in North London, sat quietly in court, answering softly when the judge asked whether it was his intention to plead not guilty.

"Yes, it is," he said.

One apparent need of Mustafa's that was not discussed in court Tuesday is being addressed, an official said later. The defendant is widely known for the hook he uses as a prosthetic device on his hand; he lost an eye and the lower portions of both arms in explosions years ago.

Mustafa has appeared in court in Manhattan without his hook, which presumably was removed for security purposes. The official said after the proceeding that Mustafa had been allowed to wear the hook for eating and for hygienic purposes at the Metropolitan Correctional Center and that arrangements were being made to fit him with new prosthetic devices.

"They won't be hooks," the official added.

The judge appointed an experienced defense lawyer, Jeremy Schneider, to represent Mustafa. After the proceeding, Schneider said a prosthesis was critical so his client could assist in preparations for his defense. It was hard enough because of the high security conditions under which Mustafa is being held, Schneider said.

Two men extradited with Mustafa appeared Tuesday before another judge in the same courthouse. Adel Abdul Bary and Khalid al-Fawwaz each pleaded not guilty Saturday; they were charged with conspiring in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa that killed more than 200 people. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan set a trial date of Oct. 7.