Associated Press - November 18, 2009 5:04 PM ET

BOSTON (AP) - A judge says a Massachusetts man accused in a terror plot to kill Americans will continue to be detained while he awaits trial, and separated from other inmates.

Tarek Mehanna (TEH'-rek Meh-HAH'-nah) of Sudbury was arrested a year ago and charged with lying to the FBI. Charges were upgraded last month, when he was accused of conspiring with two other men to shoot shoppers at U.S. malls, to kill two unnamed prominent U.S. politicians and American soldiers in Iraq.

His lawyer has asked that Mehanna be released to home confinement, saying prosecutors have built their case based on anti-American statements he made while he was a college student.

Prosecutors argue that Mehanna is a jihadist too dangerous to be released on bail.

Magistrate Judge Leo Sorokin says in his ruling Wednesday that Mehanna poses a "serious risk."

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