LONDON -- Nine men denied plotting terror attacks on high-profile targets in the UK's capital, including the US embassy, when they appeared at London's Woolwich Crown Court on Friday.
The men, aged between 20 and 29, were arrested in counterterrorism raids on Dec. 21, 2010, on suspicion of being part of a terror cell planning a series of bomb attacks.
The London Stock Exchange and the Houses of Parliament were also said to be among the targets, along with named individuals like the mayor of London and various religious leaders.
The suspects pleaded not guilty to a number of terrorism charges, including conspiracy to cause explosions between Nov. 1, 2010, and Dec. 21, 2010. The suspects also denied they were preparing for acts of terrorism between the same dates.
Five of the men are accused of possessing a document "containing information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing for an act of terrorism," which they also denied.
The men, with roots in Britain's Bangladeshi community, are Mohammed Chowdhury, 21, and Shah Rahman, 29, from east London; Gurukanth Desai, 29, Abdul Miah, 25, and Omar Latif, 27, all from the Welsh capital of Cardiff; and Nazam Hussain, 26, Usman Khan, 20, Mohibur Rahman, 27, and Abul Shahjahan, 27, from Stoke-on-Trent, central England.
They are due to go on trial Jan. 23 next year.
