A Bradford man at the head of a worldwide conspiracy to “wipe out non-Muslims” was today receiving a hefty prison sentence after being found guilty of terror charges.

Aabid Hussain Khan, 23, was said to be a “key player” in radicalising the impressionable and vulnerable here and abroad with his message of “violent jihad”.

And he was blamed for radicalising Hammaad Munshi, just 16 and named as Britain’s youngest terrorist, who was convicted at Blackfriars Court in London after six days of deliberation by a jury. Khan, of Bradford, and Munshi, of Dewsbury, lived ten miles apart, phoned each other during 2005 and 2006, and swapped documents about “black powder explosives”.

Khan wanted to fulfil the teenager’s wish to go abroad and “fight jihad”, and during one internet exchange discussed how the schoolboy might smuggle a sword through airport security. Khan, the schoolboy’s mentor, had links with proscribed terrorist organisations Jaishe-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, and helped radicalise jailed “wannabe suicide bomber” Mohammed Atif Siddique.

Khan was returning from Pakistan – possibly after terror camp training – when he was detained.

The “routine stop” at Manchester Airport on June 6, 2006 yielded the largest cyber “encyclopaedia” of articles promoting terrorism seized by police.

It included personal information, including addresses, of various members of the Royal Family.

Among them were the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal, and the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

There was also a guide to killing non-Muslims, and discussions about setting up a secret Islamic state in a remote area of Scotland.

Also found were US and Canadian military training manuals, a Terrorist’s Handbook, a Mujahideen Explosives Handbook, and a Mujahideen Poisons Handbook containing a recipe for the poison ricin and encouragement for “brothers” to experiment on “kuffar” (non-believers).

Sketches of combat suits, which he dismissed as “ghetto clothing but with an Islamic theme”, were in his Filofax.

Bradford-born Khan - “Del Boy” to his contacts - ran At-Tibiyan Publications, an “online extremist support network”.

In one exchange he spoke of finding a “big target and taking it out... like a military base in the UK. Praise be to Allah.

“Our group is growing. We need to plan better and adapt. Now a few more people are showing interest. We need to confirm and encourage... I want to have a group of at least 12.”

Another exchange read: “What I want to do is cause trouble for the kuffar with hit-and-runs everywhere, cause fear and panic in their countries, make them nervous so they make mistakes.”

Post office night sorter Sultan Muhammad, 23, was Khan’s cousin and “right-hand man”. They regularly chatted about killing non-believers and buying the explosives component acetone.

He fled to London after Khan’s arrest and was arrested two weeks later near a 'safe house'.

Khan, who admitted being interested in jihad at 12, insisted he was in Pakistan selling mobiles and visiting earthquake victims and claimed the material police found resulted from “hoarding and curiosity”.

Munshi did not give evidence, but used his barrister to also argue “curiosity”.

Muhammad remained in the dock as well, suggesting through counsel the computer files belonged to others.

But the seven-woman, four-man man jury which spent six days considering the evidence, convicted them of eight Terrorism Act offences committed between November 23 2005, and June 20 2006.

Three of the charges levelled at Khan, of Otley Road, Undercliffe, Bradford, West Yorkshire, were for possessing articles for a purpose connected with terrorism. He was cleared of a similar count.

Muhammad, of Hanover Square, Manningham, was found guilty of three similar charges and one of making a record of information likely to be useful in terrorism.

Munshi, now 18, from Greenwood Street, Saville Town, Dewsbury, was found guilty of a making offence but not guilty of a possession offence.

A fourth defendant, Ahmed Sulieman, 30, from south London, was cleared of three possession allegations after explaining the files found belonged to somebody else.

Judge Timothy Pontius told an impassive Khan and Muhammad they would remain in custody until today when he would pass sentence.

Turning to an equally unemotional Munshi, the judge said although he had been on bail he, too, would now be remanded in custody.

But unlike the others, he would be dealt with at the Old Bailey on September 19 after the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

The arrest of Aabid Hussain Khan at Manchester Airport on June 6, 2006 sparked an intensive operation which would soon become the first Counter Terrorism enquiry to be led solely by the Counter Terrorism Unit-Leeds (CTU-Leeds) and a significant terror cell disruption in the UK.

Khan was stopped at Manchester Airport on a return flight from Islamabad, Pakistan. Officers searched his luggage, seizing a large number of items including two computer hard drives, a quantity of DVDs, forged currency, false identification papers, handwritten notes and correspondence.

Among the computer data was a range of terrorist material, handbooks and documentation. Items of interest included files detailing how to make Ricin, amateur video footage of iconic sites in the United States of America and downloaded images of UK landmarks.

Initial examinations of the material recovered confirmed suspicions that Khan had links with several like minded individuals. In the UK, Aabid Khan’s key associates were identified as Sultan Muhammad, from Manningham, and Hammaad Munshi, from Dewsbury. He was also known to be in contact with Ahmed Hassan Sulieman from Woolwich. These individuals immediately became the focus of the West Yorkshire inquiry. Within two weeks of Khan’s arrest, all had been detained on the suspicion of the Commission, Preparation or Instigation of an Act of Terrorism.

Searches of the suspects’ homes resulted in the seizure of huge volumes of material relating to terrorism.

Detectives were able to establish the relationship between the four men and in particular the individual roles of Khan, Muhammad and Munshi, within what would later be recognised as a cell which provided assistance to terrorists and their supporters.

Together, Khan, Muhammad and Munshi acted as ‘facilitators’. They were a source of exclusive and up-to-date information on terrorist techniques, including training, weaponry and explosives.

Khan was particularly active in promoting Al Qaeda ideology in the UK and using the Internet to recruit individuals for terrorist purposes.

Detectives discovered a number of chat room conversations which had been stored on Khan’s hard drive and on CDs. These included conversations which sought to encourage extremism and involvement with violent Jihad.

Sultan Muhammad is believed to have supported Khan in his efforts to promote terrorism and influence others towards supporting Al Qaeda in the UK. He and Khan were both found to possess some of the most significant propaganda videos released by Al Qaeda, in addition to a step by step video guide to making a suicide vest.

Together, they communicated via MSN about their cause of killing non-believers and about purchasing a significant quantity of acetone, which can be used as an explosive component.

Munshi used his expertise to host his own website and post terrorist material online. Munshi also created and circulated technical documents to his cell associates and beyond, via email and secure web forums. These included information on how to make Napalm, how to make a detonator and the production of home made explosives.