Friend of 7/7 Bombers Jailed for Possessing Al-qaida Cd

A friend of two of the 7/7 London bombers was jailed yesterday for possession of an al-Qaida training manual, although a court heard that the CD containing it had never been played on his computer.

Khalid Khaliq, who went whitewater rafting in Snowdonia with Shehzad Tanweer and Mohammad Sidique Khan a month before the attacks, was given a 16-month sentence at Leeds crown court.

He admitted owning the CD when he came forward as a friend of the suicide bombers during a police hunt for possible back-up teams after 52 people were murdered on tube trains and a bus in 2005.

The disc was found when his home in Beeston, Leeds, was searched along with the local Iqra Islamic bookshop and centre where he served as a trustee with Tanweer and Khan.

Khaliq, 34, was not arrested until May last year, when police raided his home again and removed two books, The Absent Obligation, about expelling non-Muslims from the Arabian peninsula, and Zaad-e-Mujahid (Essential Provision of the Strugglers).

Judge James Stewart QC yesterday ordered Khaliq to be found not guilty of the charge of possessing The Absent Obligation, and ordered the charge of possessing Zaad-e-Mujahid to be laid on file.

Khaliq admitted one count of possessing a document or record containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. The court heard that he was the sole carer of his three children, two girls aged 11 and eight and a five-year-old son, who has learning difficulties.

He was told by the judge: "Some will say you should have thought of them before committing a serious criminal offense as you did." The case was so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence was justified, the judge added.

The court heard that the manual had been downloaded from a website which hosted it as part of a transcript from an anti-terrorism trial in the United States. The CD included a declaration of jihad, an interview with Osama bin Laden and detailed information for active terrorists, including weapons systems and how to deal with police questioning.

It was found in what prosecutor David Farrell QC called a library of extremist, but not illegal, material at Khaliq's home.

Khaliq told police in a statement that he did not support al-Qaida and was "shocked by the actions of the 7/7 bombers", who must have been radicalized outside the Muslim community of Beeston.