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 to the trial 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 told the jury that although the pair were on a fact finding mission, they were persuaded to attend a training camp where they both took part in firearms training using light machine guns, rocket propelled grenade launchers and AK47 assault rifles.

Both men appeared "confident and experienced" in the use of their weapons and said they wanted to fight jihad in Afghanistan, Mr Flewitt added.

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."

The court was told that during the early part of 2004 the authorities in the UK were playing particular attention to Ausman and his associates with listening devices recording conversations that took place.

Mr Flewitt told the jury that on February 2 2004 Khan, Ali and Tanweer travelled from Yorkshire for a brief five minute meeting at a retail park with Ausman in the south of England.

At another meeting three weeks later a conversation between Ausman, his brother, Khan, Tanweer and Ali was recorded by authorities.

Ausman can be heard telling Khan about problems associated with travelling to Pakistan and the risk of drawing attention to themselves and their associates on their return to the UK.

Another topic discussed was raising funds for their activities during which Ausman told Khan that "this is a one way ticket bruv" and recommended that before leaving to fight abroad that they carried out scams to "rip the country apart economically as well".

These included opening a fraudulent trade account with builders merchants and applying for loans in a false name that would never be repaid, the court heard.

Khan is heard at one point asking Ausman for "an extension" of two or three weeks after his wife was due to have their baby to make sure the child was all right - showing that Khan was intending to go abroad and fight jihad and didn't expect to return, said Mr Flewitt.

Two further meetings took place in the weeks after, at which Ali was said to be present.

Mr Flewitt said the fact that Ausman, a committed terrorist, and London bomber Khan were prepared to have such discussions in the presence of Ali suggests that "not only did he have their trust and confidence but also shared their beliefs and objectives".

He added: "Secondly, there is a reasonable inference that Ali took what he learnt at those meetings away with him and passed it on to Sadeer Saleem and Mohammed Shakil."

It was no coincidence, said Mr Flewitt, that in the months after the meetings Ali, Saleem and Shakil "engaged enthusiastically" in fraudulent activity by opening false building trade accounts.

He said the evidence gathered during the meetings with Ausman provides "valuable assistance in determining their motivation in making the trip to London in December 2004".

Proceeding