A BRITON released from Guantanamo Bay has admitted being interviewed for advanced-level terrorist training in Afghanistan by two senior Al-Qaeda leaders and later volunteering for a “martyrdom operation”.

Feroz Abbasi believes he was singled out because of his western background, which would have allowed him to plan an attack without arousing as much suspicion as Arab militants.

He says he was prepared to take “actions” against Jewish and American military targets as part of his personal commitment to jihad, or holy war.

Abbasi’s revelations are contained in a 150-page handwritten “autobiography” obtained by The Sunday Times from the US authorities. The document, in 12 chapters, provides the most comprehensive insight to date into Afghanistan’s terror camps, which have been used to train thousands of Islamic extremists, some of whom are now living in western countries as Al-Qaeda “sleepers”.

Abbasi, 24, describes how a lack of self-esteem during childhood spurred him into militancy and led to him enrolling in courses in Afghanistan. They ranged from basic firearms training with a Kalashnikov rifle to mountain and urban warfare and intelligence gathering.

He claims that other British Muslims received similar training and explains how he was captured, having been abandoned by Al-Qaeda fighters during the Afghan conflict with America and its allies.

Abbasi, of Croydon, south London, wrote the statement at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in 2003. It was used as evidence at a US military tribunal at Camp Delta before his release.

Abbasi was one of four remaining Britons freed from Guantanamo Bay last month after three years. The men, who all claim to have suffered abuse, were questioned by anti-terrorist police on their return to Britain, but were released without charge a day later.

The most startling admission in Abbasi’s statement relates to his meetings in Kandahar, southwest Afghanistan, with senior Al-Qaeda commanders just weeks before the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.

Having completed his basic training and a course in mountain warfare “reputed to be of the same standards as that of Russian commandos”, Abbasi and an Australian convert to Islam — believed to be David Hicks, who is still at Guantanamo — were persuaded to visit the offices of a group called Lashka Askari.

Here they were interviewed by Muhammad Atef, also known as Abu Hafs, then Al-Qaeda’s military chief, and Saif Al-Adel, his deputy. At the time, both leaders had a $5m price on their head for their involvement in the 1998 east African embassy bombings.

Abbasi, a former IT student in Britain, writes: “Abu Hafs was the brains behind Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden was just there for show.”

Atef, speaking through a translator, asked the Briton: “Would you like to take any actions against the Americans . . . and the Jews?”

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• A vicar’s wife: ‘There is no one to fight for us’
• Every little helps at the supermarket
• Ugg or Fitflop? The battle of the boots