London, Nov.22: A Pakistani man who travelled to Britain to study at a Scottish university, yesterday became the first person in the UK to be convicted of spreading terrorist propaganda.

A court heard Abdul Rahman, 25, acted as a recruiting sergeant who tried to persuade British Muslims to join in a "holy war".

According to the Scotsman, Rahman arrived in the UK in September 2004 on a student visa - ostensibly to study biotechnology at Abertay University in Dundee - but left the city after a day.

Moving to Manchester, he joined a radical cell that believed in fighting a holy war and viewed people who did not believe in their particular brand of Islam as "legitimate targets", the court was told.

While in Manchester, Rahman became friends with Aslam Awan, 25, another Pakistani-born man who came to the UK on a student visa.

Awan went to fight in Afghanistan and sent back a letter to Rahman, which was described as a call to arms.

More propaganda material was found on DVDs and CDs at Rahman's address in Manchester. It included a speech by Osama bin Laden interspersed with photos of the 9/11 attack, dead Muslim children and the "betraying criminals" - George Bush, the US president, Tony Blair and Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president.

A 177-page manual, entitled "Organisation and Conduct of Guerrilla Warfare" and another, "How can I train myself for Jihad", was found along with information on jobs and careers in the British security services.

"He joined up with a group of young men, some of them fellow Pakistan nationals, some of them radical British Muslims," prosecutor Parmjit Cheema told the court.

The group saw the fighting in Afghanistan as an unjust assault on Muslims and believed in the need to recruit fighters and resources for the conflict.

At Manchester Crown Court yesterday, Rahman pled guilty to possessing articles for the purpose of terrorism; dissemination of terrorist propaganda; and aiding or abetting the breach of a control order.

He had faced the more serious charge of assisting another to commit or prepare a terrorist act, which carries a maximum life sentence on conviction.

 However, under a plea-bargain deal, he confessed to the three other charges after the judge, Clement Goldstone, indicated he would only be jailed for a maximum of six years. (ANI)