7/7 blast ring leader smoked cannabis

London, May 9 : The ringleader of the 7/7 suicide bombers used to smoke cannabis and drink alcohol, a court has heard.

New details about terrorist Mohammed Siddique Khan emerged at the trial of three men accused of helping him.

Mohammed Shakil, 31, told police he and Khan smoked cannabis and drank together before the bomber became a practising Muslim in 2000.

Shakil and Sadeer Saleem, 27, both of Leeds, and Waheed Ali, 24, of Bow, East London, deny scouting for targets before the London attacks.

The 7 July 2005 London bombings (also called the 7/7 bombings) were a series of coordinated bomb blasts that hit London's public transport system during the morning rush hour.

At 8:50 a.m., three bombs exploded within fifty seconds of each other on three London Underground trains. A fourth bomb exploded on a bus nearly an hour later at 9:47 a.m. in Tavistock Square.

The bombings killed 52 commuters and the four suicide bombers, injured 700, and caused disruption of the city's transport system (severely for the first day) and the country's mobile telecommunications infrastructure.

The series of suicide-bomb explosions constituted the largest and deadliest terrorist attack on London in its history. The Kingston Crown Court trial continues.

ANI