Five of the suspects behind the plot to blow up transatlantic airliners learnt bomb-making skills in al-Qaeda training camps, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal. The plotters, all of whom are Britons of Pakistani origin, also recorded "martyrdom videos", which were to be released by al-Qaeda in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, according to Pakistan intelligence services. The suspects are understood to have travelled to Pakistan during the past 24 months and were taken to camps in the border region with Afghanistan where they were taught bomb-making skills and received weapons training by al-Qaeda instructors. It is understood that some of the suspects visited the region at the same time as the London bombers Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer.It was during these visits that the five unnamed men recorded the videos in which they are said to have "boasted" of their atrocities and their desire to become "martyrs". American intelligence has also confirmed that at least two of the suspects held in last Thursday's raids had received explosives training with household chemicals in Karachi and had met al-Qaeda operatives in the buildup to the 7/7 attacks.
Details of the extent of the Pakistan connection came as the country's intelligence service, the ISI, revealed that it had arrested Rashid Rauf, a British man, described as being a senior al-Qaeda figure. Rauf, who was arrested in a carefully planned covert operation has been described as the "brains" behind the attack to bring down at least 10 American airliners over the north Atlantic. He is also the brother of Tayib Rauf, 22, one of the 23 suspects, aged 17-35, who are in custody after a series of raids across the country early last Thursday morning.