A man connected to the July 7th London bombers was yesterday jailed for 16 months for possession of a CD containing an al-Qaeda training manual.
Khalid Kaliq of Beeston, Leeds, admitted one count of possessing a document likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.
The CD included a declaration of Jihad, an interview with Osama bin Laden and information for active terrorists, including weapons information and how to handle police interrogation. Kaliq downloaded the information from the U.S. Justice Department, which included it on its website as part of the transcript in a 2001 terror trial.
The disc was found when his home and the local Islamic bookshop of which he served as a trustee were searched.
Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, two of the July 7th bombers, also served as trustees of the bookshop, which contained extremist but not illegal material. Khaliq went white water rafting with Khan and Tanweer a month before the London attacks, and visited Khan 34 hours before the July 7th attacks.
Kaliq told police in a statement that he was "shocked by the actions of the 7/7 bombers,” who must have been radicalised outside Beeston. He also said he did not support al-Qaeda.