Man charged in London bomb probe is freed on bail

LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) A British court freed a man on bail today after he was charged with possessing an al Qaeda handbook as part of the investigation into the July 7, 2005 London bombings.

Khalid Khaliq, 34, was one of four people arrested on May 9 by officers investigating the attacks, which killed 52 commuters on London transport. The other three, including the wife of one of the bombers, were freed last week without charge.

Khaliq, a native of Beeston in Leeds, the northeastern English town that was home to several of the bombers, appeared today at Westminster Magistrates court in London, where he was freed on bail.

He was charged with possessing ''a document or record -- namely the Al-Qaeda Training Manual -- containing information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism''.

Although the charge did not refer to the 2005 attacks, a police spokesman confirmed that the charge was a result of evidence obtained during the investigation into the strikes, the first Islamist suicide bombings in Western Europe.

Nearly two years after the attacks, British police say their investigation is still in full gear. Three people were charged last month with conspiring with the bombers.

REUTERS RJ KN1933