He wasn’t so crap at travelling to Pakistan & returning to the UK though, AND without being hauled up on his return for his non-appearance at court. He was VERY good at obtaining British citizenship (despite being a known criminal), which he did in September 2004

It seems he was also a ‘researcher’ in a Home Office study into Khat use.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/rdsolr4705.pdf

He WAS crap at making bombs though. So crap indeed that the ‘conspiracy to cause explosions’ charge was dropped from the court trial (but not the media trial). The accused were found guilty of ‘conspiracy to murder with other persons unknown to murder other persons’.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6745205.stm

Add to the above the heavy reliance on prosecution witnesses who served testimony behind screens & using pseudonyms etc. & who facilitated the very movements/actions of the ‘bombers’ - running ‘em around to buy the hydrogen peroxide, helping hoik the boxes of chemicals up the stairs etc.

More research is here:
http://z13.invisionfree.com/julyseventh/index.php?showforum=30