One of the men accused of murdering off-duty soldier Lee Rigby has told the Old Bailey he is a "soldier" fighting a war.
Michael Adebolajo also spoke of his "love" for al Qaeda, telling the court he considers members of the terrorist group to be his "brothers".
Mr Adebolajo began giving evidence at the Old Bailey, dressed in black and surrounded by five security guards.
The soldier's relatives sat feet away as the defendant spoke to the court.
He and Michael Adebowale, 22, are accused of murdering Fusilier Rigby by running him down with a car and then hacking him to death with a meat cleaver and knives near Woolwich Barracks in south east London on May 22.
Asked directly for his defence to the charge of murder, Adebolajo told the jury: "I am a soldier. I am a soldier of Allah and I understand that some people might not recognise this because we do not wear fatigues and we don't go to the Brecon Beacons to train.
"But we are still soldiers."
He told his councel David Gottlieb that he considered al Qaeda to be "Mujahideen".
He said: "I love them, they're my brothers. I have never met them. I consider them my brothers in Islam."
Mr Adebolajo said he had been raised as a Christian by his parents, but grew frustrated with family visits to church and converted to Islam in his first year at the University of Greenwich.
He said that he held former Prime Minister Tony responsible for the death of one of his childhood friends who had become a soldier but was killed by an IED blast in Iraq.
Mr Adebolajo told the court that he took the name Mujahid, meaning fighter, in 2002 or 2003.
He told the court that the 2003 invasion of Iraq - particularly the "shock and awe" bombing campaign launched by the US - had been a big influence on him.
He said: "Growing up I never did think of killing a man. This is not the type of thing that the average child thinks of and I was no different.
"When a soldier joins the Army he perhaps has in his head an understanding that he will kill a man at some stage. When I became a mujahid I was aware that perhaps I might end up killing a soldier."
Mr Adebolajo, 28, and his co-defendant Michael Adebowale, 22, deny murdering Fusilier Rigby, attempting to murder a police officer and conspiracy to murder.
The trial continues.
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