Court hears Briton had al Qaeda "contact book"

LONDON (Reuters) - A British man on trial for terrorism offences was an important member of al Qaeda who possessed "a contact book for terrorists," a court heard on Wednesday.

Rangzieb Ahmed, 33, from Manchester, is accused of directing terrorism between April 2004 and August 2006, and being a member of Osama bin Laden's organisation, the Press Association reported.

He admits being a member of a banned terrorism group, Harakat-ul-Mujahideen, but denies the other charges.

Manchester Crown Court was told that covert surveillance recordings of Ahmed in Dubai and England would help show that he was an important member of al Qaeda.

Prosecutor Andrew Edis said the contact book was discovered in the baggage of associate Habib Ahmed at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam around Christmas 2005 when the two men flew back from Dubai after holding a meeting on "important al Qaeda business."

Habib Ahmed, 28, who is an unrelated co-defendant, is also accused of being a member of al Qaeda and of taking part in terrorist training in Pakistan in 2006.

"The prosecution say that the book contains information of considerable importance to a terrorist because it has information that enables them to contact each other secretly and has some important phone numbers for terrorists -- a contact book for terrorists," Edis said.

Habib Ahmed's wife, Mehreen Haji, 27, is also on trial, accused of arranging funding for terrorism purposes. She admits sending money to her husband while he was in Pakistan but denies knowing what the funds were allegedly being used for.

(Reporting by Michael Holden, editing by Luke Baker)