US authorities have charged three men with plotting an attack on a Danish newspaper and helping to plan the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, in which 160 people died.

Ilyas Kashmiri was indicted in Chicago on Thursday for his role in plotting a revenge attack against the Jyllands-Posten newspaper.

The Danish newspaper published cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in 2005, setting off a firestorm of protests across the Muslim world.

Court documents released on Thursday described Kashmiri as having been in regular contact with leaders of al-Qaeda.

Pakistan-born businessman Tahawwur Rana, 48, and Abdur Rehman, a retired Pakistani Army major, were also formally charged. Both were previously named in the investigation.

Kashmiri, who is believed to reside in the Pakistani tribal region of Waziristan, was charged with conspiracy to murder and maim persons in Denmark and providing material support to the plot.

Rehman, who is also believed to be in Pakistan, was similarly charged.

Mumbai plot

The court documents also contained additional details about the planning for a deadly assault on the Indian city of Mumbai in November 2008.

Rana's associate, David Headley, a 49-year-old American with Pakistani roots, was charged last month with conducting several surveillance trips to Denmark and to Mumbai ahead of the planned attacks.

Headley is accused of passing information on to "handlers" from another Pakistani group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is blamed for the three-day Mumbai siege that killed more than 160 people.

Headley, 49, has pleaded not guilty to 12 terrorism-related charges and remains in custody.

Rana has been accused of using his immigration business as a cover for Headley's scouting trips.

According to prosecutors Rana and Headley had numerous conversations, recorded by US agents, about the Denmark plot and Mumbai attacks.

A lawyer for Rana said his client was "duped" by Headley and had no prior knowledge of the Mumbai attacks.

He has denied the charges.