Three deny July 7 charges

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Three men helped the July 7 bombers prepare for their attack on the London transport system by carrying out a "hostile reconnaissance" of potential targets, a court heard yesterday. Waheed Ali, 25, Sadeer Saleem, 28 and Mohammed Shakil, 32, are said to have spent two days in London, visiting places including the Natural History Museum, the London Eye and the London Aquarium.

The men, from Beeston, Leeds, say the trip was an innocent social outing. However, at a retrial which started yesterday at Kingston Crown Court, the prosecution said it was "an important first step ... in what was, by then, a settled plan to cause explosions in the UK".

The men deny a charge of conspiring with Mohammed Siddique Khan, Shezhad Tanweer, Jermaine Lindsay, Hasib Hussain and others to cause explosions – the four suicide bombers killed 52 people when they set off bombs on London transport in 2005. Ali and Shakil also deny a charge of conspiracy to attend a place used for terrorist training. The trial continues today.