Sixteen suspects and a Syrian linked to Al Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Mussab Zarqawi, pleaded not guilty of plotting attacks in the Kingdom at the start of their trial on Monday. The state prosecutor has accused the 17 men of conspiring to carry out âterrorist actsâ against Jordanian anti-terrorism officers and US forces training Iraqi troops in the Kingdom. The suspects, rounded up in July, were also accused on two counts of carrying out and plotting activity aimed at undermining Jordan's relations with another country, according to court papers. The charge sheet, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, said the suspects were recruiting fighters and raising funds for Zarqawi's insurgency group in Iraq. They all pleaded not guilty when the president of the State Security Court read out the charges at the start of the trial, judicial sources said. The suspects face up to 15 years of hard labour if found guilty. The trial is set to resume Oct. 3. According to the charge sheet, alleged mastermind Motasem Suleiman was arrested in 2002 in Saudi Arabia and deported a year later to Jordan for trying to preach Islamic radicalism. A year after the start of the US-led war on Iraq in April 2003, Suleiman went to Iraq to fight US troops and actively tried to recruit fighters. âIn June 2005, the suspects agreed to carry out suicide bombings in Iraq and Suleiman got in touch with followers of Zarqawi in Syria,â the charge sheet said.