Islamabad , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- A Pakistani court Monday gave police two weeks to prepare their case for charging five Americans whom police suspect of planning terrorist attacks . Authorities have said they plan to prosecute the five men -- who are being held in jail -- under the country 's anti-terrorism act . A court hearing was set for January 18 . Police have said they are confident that the Americans were planning terrorist acts , according to Tahir Gujjrar , deputy superintendent of police in Sargodha , where the men were arrested December 9 . Gujjrar told CNN a preliminary investigation suggests that the men came to Pakistan to wage jihad and had sought to link up with Jaish-e-Mohammed and Jamaat-ud-Dawa militant organizations , neither of which showed interest , he said . The men wanted to martyr themselves , he said . Jaish-e-Mohammed is the group believed to be responsible for the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl . But Mohammed Ameer Khan Rokhri , an attorney representing the men , said they testified on the Quran , the Muslim holy book , `` that they have no connection with any banned organization , '' including Jaish-e-Mohammed or al Qaeda . They told the court , `` We are going to Afghanistan to help the Muslims who have been injured by the NATO forces and other Afghan forces , '' the attorney said . And they said the did n't intend to commit any crime in Pakistan , he said . The five young men are identified as Ahmed Abdullah Minni , Umar Farooq , Aman Hassan Yemer , Waqar Hussain Khan and Ramy Zamzam . All are in their early 20s except Yemer , who , according to the interrogation report from Pakistani police , is 18 years old . Two of the suspects are Pakistani-American , two are Yemeni-American , and one is Egyptian-American . A sixth man , Khaled Farooq -- the father of Umar Farooq -- also was arrested , but was released by the anti-terror court for lack of evidence . The five men worshipped together at a mosque in Alexandria , Virginia , until they went missing in November and turned up in Pakistan . Fellow congregants at the ICNA Center said they were shocked by the arrests and accusations . Subira Farooq , the wife of Khaled and mother of Umar , said in December that she and her husband had traveled to Pakistan to arrange a marriage for Umar , and that she was surprised to see her son arrive in the country shortly afterward . The police interrogation report describes the five as college students who `` were of the opinion that a jihad must be waged against the infidels for the atrocities committed by them against Muslims around the world . '' CNN 's Pierre Bairin and Arwa Damon and journalist Fayyaz Adrees contributed to this report .
They talked of trying to link up with Jaish - e - Mohammed and Jamaat - ud - Dawa militant groups . They wanted to commit jihad , martyr themselves , the official says . Attorney : Men ##del ` ` that they have no connection with any banned group '' Two are Pakistani - American , two are Yemeni - American , one is Egyptian - American .