WASHINGTON, July 3: In a major setback for the US government, a federal judge ordered on Thursday that four men accused of having links to Lashkar-i-Taiba be released until trial.

Prosecutors said they would appeal against the ruling as they did against a fifth suspect who was ordered by a superior judge to remain in custody.

The state department has already placed Lashkar-i-Taiba on its list of terrorist outfits, declaring it illegal to associate with this group, to campaign for it and to collect or give donations to the organization.

Lawyers watching the trial said the release order suggested that the justice department had a weaker case than it projected last week, presenting the arrests as a major achievement in the war against terror.

At one point, prosecutors even agreed that one defendant posed no threat to the community and should be released without bail until trial.

The release order is also seen as a rebuke to the government. Last week, while unsealing the indictment against the suspects, the government said this was “a stark reminder that terrorist organizations of various allegiances are active in the United States.”

The indictment charged 11 men living in the Greater Washington area with working for Lashkar-i-Taiba and accused them of seeking to wage holy war “against a friendly nation,” India. They were also accused of planning Jihad in Chechnya, and the Philippines, where Muslim minorities are fighting for separation from non-Muslim majorities.

The FBI has arrested eight of the 11 suspects while three are believed to be in Saudi Arabia. Nine of these suspects are US citizens, some born here other naturalized.

Two are Pakistani citizens living in America. One of the nine US citizens was also born in Pakistan.