LONDON – A terrorist cell allegedly linked to Al Qaeda planned to blow up pubs, nightclubs, and trains in a bombing campaign in Britain, an Old Bailey jury was told yesterday.

Some of the seven strong gang, all British citizens, had trained at terror camps in Pakistan where they hatched the plot after practicing causing explosions with ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder, it was alleged.

The plot to kill and maim is said to have involved more than half a ton of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and they planned to smuggle detonators into Britain through Belgium hidden in small radios, the court was told.

Two of the alleged plotters claimed to be working for Al Qaeda’s “number three,” said David Waters, QC, prosecuting. “Most of the necessary components were in place and all that remained before their plans achieved their ultimate goal was for the target or targets to be finally agreed,” he said.

One of the defendants, Waheed Mahmood, had been working for National Grid Transco which was “of significance in this case,” Mr. Waters said.The company operates the high voltage electricity system in England and Wales and the high pressure gas system in Britain.

The aim of the plot was “at the very least to destroy strategic plant within the UK or more realistically to kill and injure citizens of the UK,” Mr Waters said. A “great deal of preparation” had been done in Pakistan but the targets were to be in Britain, he said.

In July 2003 members of the group traveled to a training camp in Kalam posing as tourists. At the camp they carried out a successful explosion using between a pound and two pounds of ammonium nitrate, and aluminum powder, and making a U-shaped hole under the ground.

They also used false names in Pakistan, the court was told. One of the defendants used the name Hamza and codes were used in e-mails, including referring to detonators as “cigarettes.”

Omar Khyam, 24, from Crawley, West Sussex was said to be “at the center of operations.” The other defendants are his brother Shujah Mahmood, 19; Waheed Mahmood, 34, and Jawad Akbar, 22, all from Crawley; Anthony Garcia, 23, of Ilford, east London; Nabeel Hussain, 20, of Horley, Surrey who was a student at Brunel University, and Salahuddin Amin, 31, from Luton, Bedfordshire.

They deny conspiring to cause explosions between January 1, 2003, and March 31, 2004.

Messrs. Khyam, Garcia, and Hussain also deny a charge under the Terrorism Act 2000 of possession an article for terrorism – the 1,320lb of ammonium nitrate fertilizer.

Mr. Khyam and Shuja Mahmood also deny having aluminum powder for terrorism. A Canadian man Mohammed Momin Khawaja is awaiting trial there over the plot.

Another alleged member of the cell, Mohammed Babar, a Pakistani-born American citizen who has pleaded guilty in New York to a role in the “British bomb plot,” is expected to give evidence.

Babar had studied at university in New York but developed jihadi views after the first Gulf war, the court was told. He left New York for Pakistan a few days after the September 11 attacks and had been a member of the al-Muhajiroun organization.

He met the group he referred to as the “Crawley lot” when he traveled to England to raise money for the jihad in Afghanistan in November 2002. Mr. Khyam is alleged to have told him they were working for Abdul Hadi who he said was Al Qaeda’s “number three.”

In June 2003, in Pakistan, Mr. Khyam told Babar he wanted to “do operations” in Britain because it was “unscathed and needed to be hit because of its support for the U.S.,” Mr. Waters said.”He then referred to potential targets – pubs, nightclubs, or trains.”

The trial continues.