Australian police launched an investigation Monday into reports that Islamic bookstores in Sydney are selling books dealing with suicide bombings - including one endorsed by terror mastermind Osama bin Laden. "The Australian Federal Police (AFP) are working with other agencies to make inquiries," a spokeswoman for Attorney General Philip Ruddock said, in an apparent reference to counter-terrorism agents.
Anyone convicted of collecting or making documents likely to facilitate terrorist acts faced up to 15 years' jail, she said.
The Islamic Bookstore at Lakemba, a strongly Islamic suburb in Sydney's south-west, carried a book entitled "Defence of the Muslim Lands", which has an endorsement from Osama bin Laden on the cover, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The book, by Sheik Abdullah Azzam who is believed to have been killed in a bombing in the 1980s, discusses the effectiveness of suicide bombings, the paper said.