A man who posed as the leader of a British offshoot of al Qaida and called for the deaths of Gordon Brown and Tony Blair has pleaded guilty to a string of terrorist offences.

Ishaq Kanmi, 23, of Blackburn, posted a message on a Jihadi website which declared the Prime Minister and his predecessor would be sought by "martyrdom seekers" if his demands were not met.

Pretending to be Umar Rabie - the head of "al Qaida in Britain" - he issued a two-month deadline in January 2008 calling for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, together with the release of all Muslim captives from Belmarsh Prison.

Kanmi was arrested at Manchester Airport as he waited to board a flight to Finland in August 2008. He had three electronic storage devices in his suitcase and was carrying a mobile phone which all contained terror-related information which he intended to distribute.

It can now be reported that Kanmi was travelling to Helsinki with Abbas Iqbal, 24, one of two brothers who filmed al Qaida-style propaganda in a park in broad daylight and dubbed themselves "The Blackburn Resistance". Iqbal, also from Blackburn, was sentenced to three years in jail at Manchester Crown Court two months ago.