Five North Carolina men accused of forming a local ring to plot Islamic holy war attacks entered not guilty pleas in federal court on Monday.
The men were among a group first indicted in 2009 for conspiracy to carry out acts of terrorism, including training for and seeking to commit attacks in places like Kosovo, Jordan and the Gaza Strip. The five who entered pleas on Monday are scheduled to stand trial in US District Court in mid-September.
Four of the men — Dylan Boyd, 24; Ziyad Yaghi, 23; Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 24; and Hysen Sherifi, 27 — will be tried together. The fifth, Anes Subasic, 35, who is representing himself and has been disruptive in pre-trial proceedings, is expected to be tried separately.
