Three remanded over Mohammad book publisher fire

LONDON (Reuters) - Three men were remanded in custody on Friday charged over a fire at the London home of a publisher due to release a novel about the Prophet Mohammad's child bride.

The men, all from east London, were arrested by armed police after a suspected petrol bomb attack in Islington early on Saturday.

Unemployed Ali Beheshti, 40, phone salesman Abrar Mirza, 22, and minicab driver Abbas Taj, 30, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court charged with intending to destroy or damage property with intent to endanger life.

They faced further charges of conspiring to damage the premises, the Press Association said.

Beheshti was also charged with possessing a weapon designed or adapted for the discharge of a noxious liquid or gas contrary to the Firearms Act.

The men were remanded in custody and will appear at the Old Bailey on October 17.

The fire caused minor damage at the property, which is the home and office of Martin Rynja, director of Gibson Square, a publishing house which planned to release The Jewel Of Medina in Britain this month.

The book by journalist Sherry Jones, traces the life of A'isha from her engagement to Mohammad, when she was six, until the prophet's death.

In a statement issued on Friday, the publisher Random House UK said it had no involvement in the book's planned release in Britain, contrary to earlier media reports.

(Reporting by Tim Castle and Peter Griffiths; Editing by Steve Addison)