ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court formally charged Wednesday five young Americans of plotting terrorism in the country, their lawyer said, in a case that has raised alarm over the danger posed by militants using the Internet.
The students, in their 20s and from the U.S. state of Virginia, were detained in December in the town of Sargodha, 190 km (120 miles) southeast of Islamabad, and accused of contacting militants over the Internet and plotting attacks.
Police said the men -- two of them of Pakistani origin, one of Egyptian, one of Yemeni and one of Eritrean origin -- wanted to go to Afghanistan to join the Taliban to fight Afghan and Western forces.
Police have said emails showed they contacted Pakistani militants who had planned to use them for attacks in Pakistan, a front-line state in the U.S.-led war against militancy.
End Item/ 129
