Radical Islam Watch

Three men have appeared in court over a firebomb attack on the London publisher of a book about the Prophet Mohammed and his bride.

Controversial: The Jewel Of Medina

Ali Behesti, 40, Abrar Mirza, 22, and 30-year-old Abbas Taj are charged with plotting to endanger life and damage property.

Police said Beheshti was also charged with possessing a weapon "designed or adapted for the discharge of a noxious liquid or gas".

The three accused were remanded in custody following a hearing at the City of Westminster Magistrates Court and will appear at the Old Bailey in October.

The suspected petrol bomb attack targeted a north London property which is the home and office of Martin Rynja.

Mr Rynja is the director of publisher Gibson Square, which planned to release Sherry Jones' The Jewel of Medina.

The book is due to be published in Britain in October.

In August, US publisher Random House said it was dropping the novel because of the threat of violence.

The firm said it had been advised that the book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community and could incite violence by a "small, radical segment".

Ms Jones said she was shocked at the decision.

"I have deliberately and consciously written respectfully about Islam and Mohammed... I envisioned that my book would be a bridge-builder," she said.

Publishers in 10 countries, including Britain, later bought the rights to the novel.

However, it was pulled from bookstores in Serbia in August to avoid conflict with the country's Muslim minority, the publisher said, although it later went back on sale.