NSW law enforcement agencies cannot take action against people selling books endorsed by Osama Bin Laden because they do not appear to have broken any law, the State Government says. A Sydney shop, The Islamic Bookstore at Lakemba, is reportedly selling books endorsed by the al-Qaeda terrorist leader which discuss the effectiveness of suicide bombings and attack Western civilisation as "the culture of oppression, the culture of injustice, the culture of racism". The shop refused to comment on the claims today. A spokesman said: "We're not talking to any media ... we hope to put out a press release early tomorrow."
A Sydney newspaper reported that the shop was selling a book by Sheik Abdullah Azzam, which discusses the effectiveness of suicide bombings. "The form this usually takes nowadays is to wire up one's body, or a vehicle or a suitcase with explosives, and then to enter a conglomeration of the enemy and to detonate," the writer states. Another book by Azzam, Join the Caravan, carries similar themes. In Auburn, also in Sydney's west, other distressing books were found at the IDCA bookstore and the Islamic Science, Culture and Art Association. Muslim community spokesman Keysar Trad said he was concerned the books were being sold and feared they were damaging Australians' understanding of Islamic communities.
Mr Trad said if bookstore owners failed to get rid of the offensive books there was little choice but to send authorities in to confiscate them. "If they're not wise enough to go through all the material they have on the shelves and assess it and burn the nasties ... if they're not willing to do that then we'll have no option but authorities will have to confiscate such books because it's not acceptable any more with what's happening the world," he said. "There are people out there who take this message far too seriously and we don't want any literature that can cause violence. We would love to remove such literature and make sure it doesn't get into the hands of young people." British police have shut down an extremist bookshop in Leeds after the July 7 terrorist attacks on the London Underground and a bus. A spokesman for NSW Attorney-General Bob Debus today said the state had laws against racial vilification and incitement to violence. But on the face of it, the content of the books did not appear to constitute incitement to violence, he said. "For incitement to occur, violence has to actually take place [as a result of publishing the material]," the spokesman said. ! |