Danish Muslims plead innocent in bomb plot trial

A car carrying one of four Muslim men charged with plotting a bomb attack in Denmark, leaves the Danish High Court building in Copenhagen September 5, 2007.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Four Danish Muslim men arrested last year pleaded not guilty to charges of planning a bombing attack in Denmark when their trial opened in Copenhagen on Wednesday.

The four were among nine arrested last year in Odense, in central Denmark, for collecting bomb-making materials, and have been charged under the country's anti-terrorism laws. The rest have been released and will not face trial.

The trial began a day after eight other Muslim men were arrested in Copenhagen on suspicion of plotting a bomb attack.

Prosecutor Charlotte Alsing Juul said analyses of chemicals found at the men's homes last year as well as evidence collected through surveillance and phone taps and from the suspects computers, including manuals for bomb making, will be presented to the court as evidence.

Two of the defendants are of Palestinian origin, one is an Iraqi Kurd and the fourth is a Danish convert to Islam. All of them are aged between 19 and 34.

The trial is scheduled for 34 court days, the Eastern High Court said in a statement.