Nine deny planning attacks in London

NINE men have denied plotting terrorist attacks on major London targets.

The potential targets are understood to have included the Stock Exchange, Parliament and the US Embassy, as well as religious and political figures.

The suspects, aged between 20 and 29, from Cardiff, London and Stoke-on-Trent, were arrested following a series of dawn raids on 21 December last year.

Yesterday at Woolwich Crown Court they pleaded not guilty to conspiring to cause explosions likely to endanger life or damage property between 1 November and 21 December.

They also denied the allegation that they were preparing for acts of terrorism between the same dates.

They are accused of agreeing on targets, discussing materials and methods, carrying out reconnaissance work, attending operational meetings and downloading and researching files “containing practical instruction for a terrorist attack”.

Five of the men are also accused of possession of a document “containing information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing for an act of terrorism”.

The defendants from Cardiff are Gurukanth Desai, 29, Omar Sharif Latif, 27, and Abdul Malik Miah, 25.

The defendants from London are Mohammed Moksudur Rahman Chowdhury, 21, and Shah Mohammed Lutfar Rahman, 29.

The defendants from Stoke-on-Trent are Nazam Hussain, 26, Usman Khan, 20, Mohibur Rahman, 27, and Abdul Mohammed Shahjahan, 27.

The men are due to stand trial on 23 January.