Two men detained in Lebanon last year on suspicion of links to al Qaeda denied in court late on Monday they had anything to do with Osama bin Laden’s network. Mohamad Ramez Sultan, an Australian-Lebanese dual national, and Ihab Dafaa, a Saudi, were seized in September after Lebanese authorities received reports of ties between them and the group Washington blames for the September 11, 2001 attacks. They were charged along with more than 20 others of various nationalities, most in absentia, with trying to form a terrorist organisation and undermining state authority. Some were accused of forging passports to help shelter fugitives. Sultan told the court he had raised money for Islamic causes and rented a house in the northern city of Tripoli, a centre of Sunni Muslim radicalism. But he denied he was linked to al Qaeda and had tried to set up a cell for the network in Lebanon. Lebanese prosecutors say Sultan admitted during questioning that he belonged to al Qaeda. Dafaa said he had met for business purposes with some of the men charged in absentia, but denied he was tied to al Qaeda. Full Story