Norway Opens Bomb Trial Linked To Cartoons, Al-Qaeda

Three men accused in Norway of plotting -- with Al-Qaeda's help -- to bomb a Danish newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad in 2005 have pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges.

Mikael Davud, a Norwegian of Uyghur origin; Shawan Sadek Bujak, an Iraqi Kurd residing in Norway; and David Jakobsen, an Uzbek also living in Norway went on trial in Oslo on November 14.

Investigators say they were building a bomb in a basement laboratory to use in an attack against the "Jyllands-Posten" newspaper.

The three were arrested in 2010 after obtaining chemicals used to make explosives.

According to investigators, Davud, presented as the mastermind, had ties with the Al-Qaeda network, which trained him in making bombs at a camp in Pakistan.

The men face up to 20 years if found guilty.

compiled from agency reports