US five charged with terror plot in Pakistan

Five Americans were charged in Pakistan today with planning terrorist attacks.

The men, all Muslims from Washington, Virginia, pleaded not guilty to a total of five charges.

Defence lawyer Hasan Dastagir said: “My clients were in good shape and high spirits.” The men, all in their late teens or early 20s, were charged by an anti-terrorism court inside a prison in Sargodha, the city in Punjab province where they were arrested in December.

They were reported missing by their families in November after one left behind a farewell video showing scenes of war and casualties and saying Muslims must be defended.

Ramy Zamzam of Egyptian descent, Waqar Khan and Umar Farooq of Pakistani descent, and Aman Hassan Yemer and Ahmed Minni of Ethiopian descent said they were heading to Afghanistan and had no plans to stage attacks inside Pakistan.

The court also charged the men with planning attacks on Afghan and US territory, said Mr Dastagir.

The men also were charged with contributing cash to banned organisations to be used for terrorism and with directing each other to commit terrorist acts.

The trial will begin on March 31, and the prosecution is due to present more than 20 witnesses.

The defence plans to use witnesses from the US and provide evidence of community service carried out by the men at home.

Pakistani police have publicly made several accusations against the men, claiming the suspects contacted Pakistani-based jihadi groups. They accused the five of using Facebook and YouTube to try to connect with extremist groups in Pakistan.

During past court hearings, the men have claimed they were tortured by Pakistani police and FBI agents.