**Six men from North Carolina charged with plotting terror attacks in Jordan and Israel will remain in jail until their trial, a US judge has ruled.**The men are accused of conspiring to kill, kidnap and maim, but not of carrying out actual attacks.
Prosecutors say the alleged ringleader, 39 year-old Daniel Boyd, trained in Afghanistan and fought there between 1989 and 1992.
Judge William Webb said the defendants were dangerous and might flee.
He said that the accused had contacts in foreign countries and either had access to large amounts of money or were able to raise it.
The penalties they faced if convicted made them liable to leave the country, he said.
“A potential life sentence in and of itself constitutes a risk of flight.”
Camp ‘veteran’
The indictment against Mr Boyd accuses him of organising training and fundraising for overseas terrorist operations.
His alleged accomplices in the plan to wage “jihad” or holy war on various locations worldwide include his sons Dylan, 22, and Zakariya, 20.
The other defendants are Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22, Hysen Sherifi, 24, and Ziyad Yaghi, 21.
“Over the past three years, [Daniel Boyd] has conspired with others in this country to recruit and help young men travel overseas in order to kill”
David Kris
US Department of Justice
A seventh suspect, Anes Subasic, 33, had his hearing postponed to a later date after his lawyer withdrew and his interpreter was removed due to a conflict of interest.
At the opening of the detention hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors played a recording of Mr Boyd apparently telling his family that “Muslims must be protected at all costs”.
The indictment says he is a veteran of training camps for militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“Over the past three years, [he] has conspired with others in this country to recruit and help young men travel overseas in order to kill,” said David Kris, of the US Department of Justice.
According to the indictment, from late 2006 until July 2009 Mr Boyd and the other defendants engaged in a conspiracy to advance violent jihad abroad.
They arranged weapons training, funding and travel for others who wished to fight overseas, the indictment says.
It does not describe any specific attack plans, but says Mr Boyd and several other defendants travelled to Israel in June 2007 in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to engage in violent jihad.
Ziyad Yaghi is said to have travelled to Jordan in October 2006 to commit violent acts.
According to prosecutors, the defendants practised military tactics in North Carolina in June and July 2009.
There was no reported response from the defendants.