SYDNEY, July 21, 2008 (AFP) - An Indian-born surgeon linked to the deaths of more than a dozen patients in Australia appeared in court on Monday to face a string of charges including manslaughter, court officials said.

Jayant Patel, 58, appeared at a magistrates' court in Brisbane hours after arriving back in Australia following his extradition from the United States.

Patel was granted 20,000 dollars (19,600 US) bail on 14 charges, including three of manslaughter, as well as grievous bodily harm and fraud.

The surgeon, who is a US citizen, is at the centre of a scandal which has brought procedures for recruitment of foreign doctors under intense scrutiny in Australia.

The charges relate to 17 patient deaths during his time as director of surgery at a hospital in northeastern Queensland from 2003 to 2005.

Patel flew from Los Angeles on a Qantas flight accompanied by two Australian detectives and was immediately transferred to a police watchhouse in Brisbane.

Magistrate Brian Hine said that in granting bail he had taken into account the fact that it would take at least 12 months for the case to reach trial.

Patel will have to live at a place approved by prosecutors, report to police three days a week and surrender his passport.

State Premier Anna Bligh said Monday that the court process against Patel would be long and complicated.

'There will be many times when this matter will come before the courts before we see a formal committal hearing and beyond that a full trial,' Bligh told reporters.

A representative of patients expressed 'relief' Monday that a long extradition process was finally over and said she believed Patel would get a fair trial despite the intense publicity the case has received in Australia.

'Just because a case is high-profile that shouldn't be a reason not to go to trial,' said Beryl Crosby, a former Patel patient.

A number of patients travelled from Queensland to Brisbane to see Patel appear in court.