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Terrorists targeted event hosted by Danish royal

'It should be emphasised that the Crown Prince was not the target,' said Henrik Plaehn, the Danish prosecutor.

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Four Islamic terror suspects planned to kill as many as possible at an event attended by Denmark's Crown Prince in revenge for a Danish newspaper's publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, prosecutors said on Friday.

The trial of four men - three Swedish citizens and one Swedish resident - opened in Copenhagen with new allegations that they intended to attack a newspaper sports award ceremony, presided over by the heir to the Danish throne, Prince Frederik.

"It should be emphasised that the Crown Prince was not the target," said Henrik Plaehn, the Danish prosecutor.

The suspects are accused of planning to carry out indiscriminate gun attacks over Denmark's refusal to ban the publication by Jyllands-Posten of satirical cartoons mocking the founder of Islam in 2005. They were accused of targeting an awards ceremony at the building where the newspaper is based.

Plaehn also alleged that the four, charged with terrorism and possession of weapons, had links with Pakistan.

The defendants - Munir Awad, Omar Abdallah Aboelazm, Mounir Ben Mohamed Dhahri and Sabhi Ben Mohamed Zalouti - are originally from Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Lebanon. Three of them were arrested in December 2010 while allegedly on their way to kill a large number of people in revenge for the publication of 12 cartoons.

The fourth man, Zalouti, had allegedly left the car after getting cold feet.

A machine gun with a silencer, a revolver and 108 bullets were allegedly found in the men's possession.

They have all pleaded not guilty.

 

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