LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP) — A Swedish-Lebanese man on Friday pleaded not guilty to charges he was planning an attack on Israeli citizens in Cyprus, in a case that Israel has said bears similarities to a suicide bombing that killed five Israeli tourists and a bus driver in Bulgaria last summer.

A state prosecutor read out eight charges against Hossam Taleb Yaacoub, including conspiracy and consent to commit a criminal offense and participation in a criminal organization. Yaacoub originally faced 17 terrorism and terrorism-related charges according to police, but prosecutors last month dropped any reference to terrorism in the new charges without explanation.