Pakistani court refuses bail to US terrorism suspects

Feb 17, 2010, 11:40 GMT

Islamabad - A Pakistani court denied bail on Wednesday to five US citizens accused of planning terrorist attacks by contacting militant groups with links to al-Qaeda, lawyers said.

The men, all believed to be in their 20s, were arrested in Pakistan's eastern town of Sargodha in December, days after their families reported them missing in the US state of Virginia.

Defence lawyer Tariq Asad said on Wednesday that his clients plan to take the appeal to a higher court.

He complained that the defence was not given access to evidence and police records.

Nadeem Akram, a state prosecutor, had earlier told the court that the Americans were suspected of plotting terrorist attacks, and that bail was not allowed in such cases.

The US students were yet to be indicted, but remained in custody despite the recent expiry of their remand.

The detainees have accused their Pakistani and US investigators of torture in an alleged attempt to set them up. Pakistani police deny the allegations.

Two of the suspects are of Pakistani origin and the three others of Egyptian, Yemeni and Eritrean descent.