An alleged Islamist extremist accused of murdering the Dutch film maker Theo Van Gogh went on trial in Amsterdam today.

Holding a copy of the Qur'an, 27-year-old Mohammed Bouyeri spoke only to confirm his identity to the high security court in suburban Amsterdam.

Mr Bouyeri is accused of shooting Van Gogh seven times as he cycled through Amsterdam last November, before slitting his throat so deeply that the head was almost severed.

The film-maker - a descendant of 19th-century painter Vincent Van Gogh - was an outspoken critic of Islam.

His body was found with a five-page note pinned to his chest. The note, which quoted the Qur'an, was addressed to the Somali-born Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who had written the script for Van Gogh's documentary Submission.

The documentary accused Islam of condoning the subjugation of women, and showed verses from the Qur'an written on the naked bodies of actors.

Van Gogh's killing, on November 2, sparked a wave of attacks on mosques and Islamic buildings, and some retaliatory attacks on churches. Tensions have since calmed.

However, supporters of the assassinated politician Pim Fortuyn, an outspoken critic of immigration and Islam, gathered outside the court for the opening of proceedings.

Mr Bouyeri's lawyer, Peter Plasman, said his client did not want to mount a defence because he refused to accept the authority of the court.

"My client wants no defence by him, nor on his behalf, and that's a very thoroughly considered decision," he said. "This is probably the last thing I'll be saying at this trial."

Mr Bouyeri, who was born in the Netherlands of Moroccan parents, has spent several months under psychiatric observation, and has refused to cooperate with prosecutors and police.

He faces a life sentence if found guilty. Prompted repeatedly by judges to address the court, he replied: "I have nothing to add."

Van Gogh's mother and sister briefly addressed the court, but Mr Bouyeri averted eye contact and looked up only briefly as they took the stand. "The brutal murder left a gaping hole in our family, a hole that will never be filled," the film-maker's sister, Josien, said.

The prosecutor, Frits van Straelen, told a pre-trial hearing in April that he would present forensic evidence including clothes, a bag, the murder weapon and ammunition to show Mr Bouyeri killed Van Gogh.

Mr Van Straelen intends to present pictures found at Mr Bouyeri's home which show executions, beheadings, hangings, throat cuttings, amputations and killings by stoning.

Prosecutors have said Mr Bouyeri believed he was doing God's will and wanted to die a "martyr" at the hands of police. He was injured in a gun battle with officers before being arrested immediately after the murder.

They added that conversations recorded at the home of two men in The Hague, who were arrested in a raid a week after Van Gogh's murder, showed that a number of people in Bouyeri's circle of friends knew of his plan to kill the film-maker.

The Dutch intelligence agency AIVD believes fundamentalist groups are recruiting second-generation immigrant Muslims in Holland, and more than 50 terrorism suspects have been arrested in the country since the September 11 2001 attacks on the US. All but two were acquitted of major offences.