Bombers 'pushed 7/7 accused away'

Waheed Ali: Denies conspiring with bombers

A man accused of helping the 7/7 London bombers says he saw the ringleader just twice in the months before the attacks.

Waheed Ali, of Leeds, said Mohammad Siddique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer had distanced themselves after returning from jihadi training in Pakistan.

Mr Ali, 25, said he believed the authorities wanted "heads to roll" and he was facing guilt by association.

Mr Ali and two other men deny carrying out a trip to London in December 2004 to find potential bomb targets.

Beginning the second day of his defence, Mr Ali said Tanweer, his close friend whom he called "Kaki", became aloof from him after February 2005. Tanweer, Khan, Mr Ali and Sadeer Saleem, another defendant, had just returned from mujahideen training near the Afghan border.

Shehzad Tanweer: Waheed Ali had always called him Kaki

Khan and Tanweer had trained separately, Mr Ali had earlier told the court, resulting in them intending "to do something for the brothers" back in England.

But Mr Ali said that when he asked what was happening, he was kept at arm's length. He said he became depressed and turned to smoking cannabis with other friends.

Mr Ali told the jury at Kingston Crown Court he saw Khan twice between their return and the bombings. On both occasions he appeared cold and had changed, he said.

He added he had tried to keep up with Tanweer but it was clear that he was not wanted. He became "really down" with the change in their relationship.

"I think I phoned him a couple of times and he said 'leave it'," said the defendant.

"[And I thought] he is still my friend and I still love him but I let him do his thing and I did my thing.

"I thought they were doing financing for the brothers or taking equipment for the brothers [in Afghanistan]."

I don't want to sound rude but I wasn't going to Pakistan to pick flowers for my niece and bring them back - I was doing stuff that was regarded as illegal in this country Waheed Ali

At the end of June the pair bumped into each other outside a local takeaway.

Mr Ali said: "I noticed his hair was a bit red and his beard was yellow. I asked him what he was doing and he said that he had been swimming a lot and it was the chlorine."

On 6 July, Tanweer turned up for a regular game of cricket among the local lads, said Mr Ali.

"Kaki made a bit more of an effort. He came up and chatted to me a lot but more about how I was keeping.

"I thought that they had done what they needed to do and we would start slowly, slowly chilling again."

Michael Wolkind QC, defending, asked Mr Ali how he felt now looking back on what his friend did the next day.

"He had been my best friend since I was little, I had a lot of love for him.

"But what he did the next day was unbelievable. The world knows him as Shehzad Tanweer.

Sadeer Saleem and Mohammed Shakil also deny the charge

"I don't know Shehzad Tanweer, I know Kaki. There are two different stories. What can I say?"

Mr Ali said he learned of the attacks on 7 July watching the breaking news in his sister's lounge.

Within 24 hours, rumours in the Beeston area had linked the bombings to the disappearance of Siddique Khan, Tanweer and Hasib Hussain.

"Slowly, slowly we started putting things together. I'm starting to think in my head 'no, no, this is not happening'.

"If I believed in the bombings, I would not be here," he said. "I would have been with the brothers."

'Guilt by association'

Questioned by the prosecution, Mr Ali admitted he had lied to police and "told a couple of blags".

"I don't want to sound rude but I wasn't going to Pakistan to pick flowers for my niece and bring them back. I was doing stuff that was regarded as illegal in this country.

"I'm innocent - but I know that I have done things that in this country are illegal.

"I can take that like a man. If you charge me with attending a training camp, I would plead guilty tomorrow.

"But the authorities want innocent heads to roll. It's guilt by association. We are the best people because we have been hanging around with them."

Mr Ali, Sadeer Saleem and Mohammed Shakil, all originally of Leeds, deny conspiracy to cause an explosion. The trial continues.