from The Australian: by Trudy Harris and Patrick Walters, July 19, 2005 ...
ISLAMIC bookstores face closure and their owners could be charged with terrorism offences as pressure intensifes in the wake of the London bombings to crack down on radical literature sold in Australia.
Federal and state counter-terrorism officers will investigate at least one Islamic bookshop in Sydney following revelations it is selling literature promoting jihad and justifying suicide bombings.
Another bookstore in Melbourne, run by the country's most fundamentalist cleric, was yesterday selling a book calling for Christians to be trampled underfoot. "It is either Islam or death," says the book, which is sold from the bookshop attached to the Brunswick prayer room where Sheik Mohammed Omran delivers his fiery sermons.
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said officers would review the literature sold in Sydney -- including one book filled with vitriol against the Australian way of life -- to determine if anti-terrorism laws had been breached.
....Moderate Islamic leaders in Australia have long been concerned about a plethora of radical material found in magazines, books and DVDs sold in bookstores but also distributed outside mosques and easily available on the internet.
National Christian, Jewish and Muslims leaders met recently to devise a plan for preventing the sale of radical material, after finding some with alarming levels of hatred. "There is no doubt that these books vilifying races and religions and justifying terrorism are out there in numbers," one leader at the meeting said.
...Fundamentalist scholar Sheik Omran's shop sells a book that details reasons Muslims should not befriend Jews, Christians or non-Muslims. "If it becomes clear that someone is at odds with Islam, then fight him. The (Jew or Christian) who insults the Prophet should be killed," it says. Sheik Omran's website also praises a US scholar convicted last week for inciting his young followers to wage war. The website paints the influential scholar, Ali-al-Timimi, as a victim of spurious charges.
Islamic Bookstore owner Marwan Baytiye, also director of an educational group in Lakemba called the International Centre for Islamic Studies, declined to comment on the books yesterday, saying he was seeking legal advice.
IDCA president Ihssan Wehbe denied that his shop sold extremist literature. He said the IDCA served Auburn's moderate Muslim community, adding that he bought his books over the internet from overseas publishers.
(Additional reporting: Annabelle McDonald, Natasha Robinson, Andrew West)
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