Detectives investigating a failed booby-trap bomb murder bid on a soldier in Belfast have charged a man.

The 40-year-old is accused of possession of a prohibited weapon.

Security forces said the soldier was lucky to escape with his life after he spotted the device underneath the driver's seat inside his car on January 5.

The serviceman from Britain had been visiting a girlfriend in the north of the city when dissident republicans opposed to the peace process opened the door of his UK-registered Vauxhall Astra and slipped the bomb beneath the seat.

A 16-year-old boy and two men aged 34 and 42 were released unconditionally.

Three others - a woman and two men - detained by detectives investigating the bomb were also released unconditionally.

The charged man is due to appear in court in Belfast.

The dissident republican group Oglaigh na hEireann claimed it was responsible for the murder bid.

The car had been parked in the housing estate off the Ligoneil Road in a nationalist area of the city, but police said they did not know when or where the bomb was planted.

It is understood the soldier noticed a wire connected to the driver's seatbelt and then discovered the device below the seat.