SARGODHA, Pakistan — Five Americans detained in Pakistan are denying they planned to carry out terrorist attacks.

The young Muslim men from the Washington, D.C., area appeared in court Monday in Pakistan.

Their defense lawyer said the court granted police two weeks to prepare terrorism charges against them.

The attorney, Ameer Abdullah Rokri. said the men denied they had ties with al-Qaida or other militant groups during the court appearance in Sargodha, in eastern Pakistan .

The men, aged 19 to 25, were arrested in Sargodha in early December in a case that has spurred fears that Westerners are traveling to Pakistan to join militant groups.

AP

Pakistani police officers with detained American Muslims leave a police station to send them into prison in Sargodha, Pakistan.