No plan to kill Danish scribes, say four accused

Four men pled not guilty on Friday as they went on trial in Denmark over a suspected plot to massacre the staff of a newspaper that first published caricatures blasphemous to Islam.

The four — three Swedish nationals and one Tunisian resident of Sweden — face charges of “attempted terrorism” over what prosecutors say was a plot to “kill a large number of people” at the Jyllands-Posten daily’s offices in Copenhagen.

Jyllands-Posten published a dozen cartoons that triggered violent and sometimes deadly protests around the world. A machine gun, a revolver and 108 bullets and reams of duct tape were found in the men’s possession when they were arrested on December 29, 2010.