The Times has chilling new details about the London train bombers, based on the reports released by the British government: They aroused no suspicion. They were hugging and happy — but had bombs.

Khan, who at 30 was the oldest of the group, appears to have been the ringleader. He had become a role model for young Muslims in Leeds through his community work. But the report reveals for the first time that as a terrorist he modelled himself on a young Briton killed during the US bombing of Tora Bora in Eastern Afghanistan in 2001. Like Khan the unnamed terrorist had been married with children, and Khan used the dead man’s will as a template for his own, which was discovered by police after the bombings.

He was remembered at school as quiet, studious and sometimes bullied. Associates claim that he flirted with alcohol and drugs but, after an incident in a nightclub, he turned to religion and it changed his life. He studied at Leeds Metropolitan University, married and had a daughter, and embarked on a seemingly successful career as a learning mentor in local schools. The job ended after his employers queried his extended sick leave, but he continued to be active in youth and community work.

Even during this time he was already training for martydom. In 2003 he went to Pakistan, when he is believed to have met senior al-Qaeda figures. At some stage he had recorded a chilling video message that was released after his death. Yesterday it was significant that nowhere in the thousands of official words released did it say how it had come to be broadcast on Arabic television after the bombers were dead.

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