Mohammad Abu Lebadeh, 27, Omar Abu Qutam, 28, and Ahmad Khatib denied the charges of leaving the country to join foreign groups and carry out acts not approved by the government that were set to ”offend Jordan’s ties with other countries,” the sources said.

The three suspects were arrested last September.

A fourth suspect, Zeid Hourani, will be tried in absentia because he is still at large.

All four defendants belong to the takfir ideology (dubbing people as atheists).

The indictment sheet did not name the groups, which the defendants planned to join, but said they traveled to Syria and later to Turkey for this purpose.

Groups of Jordanians were tried by the SSC over the past few years on charges of joining either Al-Qaeda or Taleban to fight the US-led allied troops in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The tribunal adjourned hearings until Feb. 9 for hearing witnesses, the sources said.