BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhuanet) -- A 25-year-old Canadian man, Steven Chand, together with other 16 suspects, was arrested for being accused of planning to "blow up Canadian targets and behead Stephen Harper," the prime minister, Canadian prosecutors said Tuesday.

    The Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton, a small city just west of Toronto, said the men arrested were charged with participating in a terrorist group. Other charges include importing weapons and planning a bombing.

    Two of the suspects are already in jail, and 15 others, 10 men and 5 juveniles, appeared in court Wednesday shackled together with handcuffs.

    But Chand's lawyer Gary Batasar said the allegations against his client are extremely serious. "There's an allegation apparently that my client personally indicated that he wanted to behead the prime minister of Canada. My client has said nothing about that," Batasar told journalists outside a courthouse in Brampton, Ontario.

    Families and friends of those arrested also claim that they have no links to terrorism and say the police have made a mistake. Enditem