Suspect says he was duped by a friend and denies the charges of plotting a terrorist attack on a newspaper

Lawyers for one of the Chicago men accused of supporting a plot to attack Jyllands-Posten newspaper, say he thought the whole thing was a joke.

Tahawwur Hussein Rana appeared in court yesterday charged with providing material support to terrorists by using his business as a cover for main suspect David Coleman Headley’s trips to Denmark.

Rana’s lawyer said his client may have been aware of Headley’s links to radical groups in Pakistan, but knew nothing of the plot against the paper which published the infamous Mohammed cartoons in 2005.

The Danish Security and Intelligence Agency (PET) went through Jyllands-Posten’s offices yesterday following the revelation of the terror plot.

Politicians are demanding a legislative review following the news.

The Danish People’s Party wants terrorism laws tightened, as was done in Britain following the 2005 London bombings.

Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said he was willing to review the legislation but made no promises that laws would be tightened.

‘I can’t guarantee that a terrorist won’t ever slip through the net, but we must do what we can to minimise the risk,’ Rasmussen said.

PET has made no new announcements on the status of their investigation and head of the Copenhagen Police Per Larsen said surveillance measures in the capital hadn’t changed.