Was cricket on hit list of 7/7 bombers?

New Delhi: The London bombers behind the July 7, 2005 terror attacks were initially ordered by al-Qaeda to assassinate the England and Australia cricket teams during the 2005 Ashes, The Sunday Times reported.

The claims were made by a friend of one of the terrorists, Hasib Hussain, the bus bomber who killed 13 people.

The friend, who is willing to pass his information to the police, uses a pseudonym, Ahmed Hafiz.

Hafiz, whose family has known the Hussains for 25 years, said he had received details of the bombers’ visit from members of his extended family, who are involved in running a ‘camp’ in Kashmir, The Sunday Times reported.

According to Hafiz, 32, the bombers were instructed to get jobs as stewards at the Edgbaston cricket ground and to spray sarin gas inside the changing rooms.

The second Test between England and Australia, whose governments have supported Washington in the war on terror, began on August 4, 2005.

The bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, allegedly received the orders at a training camp near Kotli in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir in December 2004.

Hafiz claimed Tanweer, 22, objected to the plot, possibly because he was a cricketer.

Hafiz was told by a witness that Tanweer argued with Khan, 30, and a scuffle between them had to be broken up by a “chaperone”.

Days later, Hafiz claims, the camp's commanders, terrorists affiliated to al-Qaeda, revealed the plot to bomb the London Underground to Khan and Tanweer.

"It was always there, as Plan B," Hafiz told The Sunday Times.

Although it was known the two bombers visited Pakistan in November 2004, until now no details have emerged about which camp they attended.

On Saturday, a senior anti-terrorist officer in the July 7 investigation said they would be interested to interview the source.

According to Hafiz, the camp commanders put Khan and Tanweer in touch with a bomb-making expert, who was based in Birmingham.

The expert, known as Afzal Shaan, is said to be a chemistry graduate from a British university who is in his forties.

Hafiz has also provided an explanation for Khan’s emergence as the ringleader of the London bombers.