Accused Deny Neo-Nazi Bomb Plot

Three of the four accused in a German trial over a neo-Nazi bombing plot at the site of a new Jewish center in Munich denied the charges against them on Wednesday. "There were no plans for an attack," Karl-Heinz Stratzberger told the court hearing the case. Stratzberger said the group had been looking for a "thrill" by experimenting with explosives. Police found around 14 kilos (30 pounds) of bomb-making equipment, including more than a kilo of the explosive TNT, and hand grenades and pistols in searches in Munich when the plot was uncovered in August 2003. Federal prosecutors say that alleged ringleader Martin Wiese and his three co-accused wanted to plant a bomb at a high-profile ceremony for the laying of the center's foundation stone in November last year. Then German president Johannes Rau, Bavaria's state premier Edmund Stoiber and leading representatives of the Jewish community had been among guests at the event. The trial is expected to last until March next year.