Three Denmark terror plot suspects remanded in custody

Three terror suspects were remanded in custody by a Danish court on Thursday in relation to a foiled "Mumbai-style" plot to massacre staff at a newspaper that published caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

Reuters / Scanpix/Martin Sylvest Andersen

The attack on the Copenhagen offices of the Jyllands-Posten daily may have been just hours away when it was foiled.

The suspects face charges of attempted terrorism and weapon possession. According to Denmark's TV2, the three have pleaded not guilty.

The alleged plan was to “carry out a Mumbai style attack” the head of Danish intelligence agency PET said.

The 2008 attacks in Mumbai saw 10 heavily armed gunmen trigger a stand-off that left 166 people dead.

PET said the suspects were a 44-year-old Tunisian, a 29-year-old Swede born in Lebanon, and a 30-year-old Swede. Media reports say a 26-year-old Iraqi asylum seeker who was also arrested will be released.

Danish intelligence officials seized "plastic strips that could have been used as handcuffs, a sub-machine gun with silencer as well as ammunition".

Danish media have called for press freedom to be protected following the incident.

It's striking that Jyllands-Posten had once again been threatened "just because the newspaper used the freedom of speech secured by the constitution," Berlingske Tidende's editorial said Thursday.