Man 'visited terror training camps'

Mohammed Shakil took part in terror training camps during a "fact finding mission" for those interested in fighting jihad after flying out with Edgware Road bomber Khan in July 2003, the court was told.

A jury heard that two years earlier Waheed Ali had also travelled to Pakistan with Khan - staying for more than a month.

Shakil, 31, from Beeston, Leeds and Ali, 24, from Tower Hamlets, east London are standing trial with a third man, Sadeer Saleem, 27, from Beeston, where they deny conspiring with the July 7 bombers to cause explosions between November 17, 2004 and July 8, 2005.

They are accused of carrying out a two-day reconnaissance mission in London, including tourist attractions such as the London Eye, the Natural History Museum and the London Aquarium.

Suicide bombers Khan, Shezhad Tanweer, Jermaine Lindsay and Hasib Hussain murdered 52 innocent people when they set off bombs on the capital's transport network.

Neil Flewitt QC told the jury at Kingston Crown Court that on July 24 2003, Khan and Shakil were met at Islamabad Airport by convicted terrorist Mohammed Junaid Babar and another man who used the name "Ausman".

The court heard that while in Pakistan, Khan and Shakil used pseudonyms to protect their identities.

Mr Flewitt said Babar, who is currently in prison in the United States, will give evidence via videolink in which he will say how Khan and Shakil told him they had on a previous occasion trained in Kashmir and fought in Afghanistan.

He said: "That trip to Pakistan provides further evidence of the mindset and motivation of Mohammed Shakil. If the trip made by Waheed Ali in 2001 was for a similar purpose, then, in his case too, you have a further indication of his commitment to fighting jihad."