Five US Muslims on terrorism charges

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

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.

The men were also accused of 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 contact extremists in Pakistan.

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

DRONES KILL NINE IN REMOTE STRIKES

US drones fired missiles at vehicles and hit a house thought to be a militant hide-out in north-western Pakistan, killing at least nine suspected insurgents.

The remotely-controlled CIA drones fired four missiles at a vehicle and flattened a nearby house at Miran Shah, in North Waziristan tribal region. About 50 minutes later drones fired three more missiles at a suspect vehicle.