Federal prosecutors say they should not be forced to drop references to al-Qaida and jihad from the indictment of five men accused of plotting to attack soldiers on Fort Dix.

Lawyers for the men last month asked a judge in U.S. District Court in Camden to delete such language, saying it was "inflammatory" and was included in earlier court filings to incite prejudice against the defendants.

In a response filed Friday, government lawyers said the terms in question are central to the case, arguing that jihadist principles motivated the defendants.

Serdar Tatar, Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer and the brothers Dritan, Eljvir and Shain Duka have pleaded not guilty to the May 2007 charges that they were planning to sneak onto the base and kill soldiers.

The government said they chose the Army installation, which is used mostly to train reservists for deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, largely because Tatar's father owned a pizza shop nearby and he knew his way around the area.

An attack was never carried out, though prosecutors say the men trained for it on trips to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.

The men, all foreign-born Muslims in their 20s, have spent much of their lives in the Philadelphia area.

They could face life in prison if they are convicted on all charges. A trial is scheduled to start in October. Continued...