A "library" of films and literature promoting terrorism and the violent deaths of non-Muslims were found during raids at the homes of two Bradford men, a jury was told.

Aabid Khan, of Otley Road, Undercliffe, who was arrested on his return from Pakistan, was a "committed and active promoter of Islamic extremism," it was alleged.

The material allegedly in his possession "showed he was dedicated to the pursuit of a violent holy war against anyone, any person or any country which did not believe in his religious faith".

Simon Denison, prosecuting, said: "The computer, hard drives and the computer discs contained thousands of documents, videos and audio files that held detailed information on how to make and use weapons, explosives and poisons, how to carry out acts of murder on potential terrorist targets here in the UK as well as abroad." Opening a trial at London's Blackfriars Crown Court yesterday, Mr Denison said there were also news reports about terrorist activity "that could have been used as information to inform someone intent on committing acts of terrorism".

He continued: "He also had documents that provided detailed information on surveillance and counter surveillance.

"This information amounted to a terrorist encyclopaedia or library that would have enabled him or others to carry out terrorist attacks here or abroad in a variety of ways, and thereby to further the cause that appeared to be his mission in life - the war on western values and anyone who was a non-believer in the Muslim faith."

Mr Denison said Khan's arrest at Manchester Airport on June 6 2006, the search of his Bradford home and the information discovered as a result was followed by the detention of his three co-accused during further raids in West Yorkshire and London.

"The prosecution say these defendants were motivated by their common cause, that of violent jihad against non-believers and the computers and CDs and books that had that contained the sort of information I have referred to were the necessary tools of their trade, possessed to be used in furtherance of that violent cause."

In the dock are Khan, 23, and Sultan Muhammad, also 23, of Hanover Square, Manningham, Bradford; Ahmed Sulieman, 30, of Woolwich, south-east London, and Hammaad Munshi, 18, of Saville Town, Dewsbury.

They variously deny 13 counts alleging possessing articles for a purpose connected with terrorism and making a record of information likely to be useful in terrorism between November 23, 2005, and June 20, the following year.

According to the indictment they include DVDs, files, storage devices and other documents with such titles as How To Make Napalm, Improvised Primary Explosives, Manual On Explosives And Demolitions, Mujahideen Poisons Handbook, AK47 Homebuilt Receiver Plans, and Expedient Homemade Firearms - The 9mm Submachine Gun.

During his opening address of what is scheduled to be a two-month long trial, Mr Denison, said at the time of his arrest, Khan lived with his parents and younger brothers.

In his CV he said he had last worked in a fast-food outlet in Bradford in 2005, possessed IT skills and listed reading and computers as his hobbies.

Muhammad also lived with his parents and younger siblings, and was a Royal Mail night sorter. Inquiries into his background showed he was also computer literate, having completed a college course in IT systems support.

Munshi, the youngest of those on trial, was a 16-year-old schoolboy at Westborough High School, Dewsbury, when he was arrested. He, too, lived with his parents, the jury was told.

Mr Denison said Sulieman was an electrician, the oldest defendant and was married with six children.

Although he and his family lived at an address in south-east London, he also frequently stayed with his grandparents at their home in Woolwich.

He told the five man, seven woman jury trying the case that the CDs, DVDs and other material found in Khan's luggage at the airport had a "recurring theme - that it was the duty of all Muslims to take part in acts of violence against non-believers in the name of Islam and that the greatest honour for Muslims was to die a martyr in an act of violence in furtherance of their views".

It was the Crown's case Khan was a "significant figure in promoting this view", and one of the ways he did that was as the "administrator of an extremist website" that published al Qaida propaganda".

Said Mr Denison: "It would not have taken long for news of Khan's arrest to reach his friends and associates in Bradford and elsewhere.

"One such close friend was Sultan Muhammad... and on the evening of the day of Khan's arrest officers went to his home. He was not there. He didn't return home that night and didn't go to work the next day. No-one appeared to know his whereabouts."

However, a search of his address revealed why he may have been "laying low".

His bedroom, alleged the barrister, contained "significant" material similar to that allegedly found on Khan.

It, too, included al Qaida propaganda depicting Muslim fighters around the world, "glorifying" roadside bombs, suicide bombers, killing American and British soldiers in Iraq, and showing the beheading of hostages.

"Perhaps one of the most chilling videos... was one that provided a step-by-step guide as to how to make a suicide bomber's vest, using... ball bearings as shrapnel and demonstrating the effects of such a bomb."

The court heard police had continued their hunt for Muhammad and discovered he had bought a one-way ticket to London to seek "refuge" with Sulieman, one of his other alleged associates.

Twenty-four hours after disappearing he was spotted walking through east London with £1,265 "survival money" in his pocket. The day after that Sulieman was also detained.

Mr Denision told the court: "Each of the defendants is a Muslim. The ideology that the material in their possession promoted is the extreme ideology, most notoriously of Osama bin Laden of the terrorist network known as al Qaida, as well as other groups in various countries that have adopted it.

"In simple terms there is a global conspiracy... against those who don't believe in their extreme vision of Islam and to wipe out those of other faiths."

Mr Denison maintained the extremists' hit list included Christians and Jews, "personified principally" by Americans, Israelis and "those allied to them including Britain".

He said: "It is the religious duty of all Muslims to take part in the holy war. It is referred to as the religious obligation and only those who die as martyrs of the cause will achieve ultimate redemption in the afterlife."

The jury was then shown some of the videos seized by police. One paid tribute to the men who killed themselves carrying out the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, while another contained footage of dead "Muslim martyrs".

The trial continues.