Finally, radical Islamic influence has crept into U.S. publishing. A book scheduled for release by Random House has been postponed indefinitely, with the publishing giant opening admitting that the reason is a series of threats from a radical Islamic group:

"We felt an obligation to take these concerns very seriously. We consulted with security experts as well as with scholars of Islam, whom we asked to review the book and offer their assessments of potential reactions.

We stand firmly by our responsibility to support our authors and the free discussion of ideas, even those that may be construed as offensive by some. However, a publisher must weigh that responsibility against others that it also bears, and in this instance we decided, after much deliberation, to postpone publication for the safety of the author, employees of Random House, Inc., booksellers and anyone else who would be involved in distribution and sale of the book."

The book, "The Jewel of Medina" by Sherry Jones, reportedly tells the story of Mohammed's 5-year-old wife, Aisha. She is revered in Islam - whose sacred texts speak openly of her age at the time of her wedding, but that Mohammed waited until she was nine to deflower her. (How gentlemanly!) Jones' book depicts her as 11 on her wedding night.

Random House, as expected, is under fire from proponents of free speech. Some cite its ownership by a German company as the real reason behind its failure to uphold traditional American ethics. However the book has been picked up by publishers in Denmark, Spain, Italy and other European nations. Meanwhile, the author is shopping for a new publisher, and reports that her agent has been contacted with several offers.

Steve Emerson at the Investigative Project on Terrorism has written a nice informative piece on the situation. Read the story here:
http://www.investigativeproject.org/article/749

Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses, knows a little something about Islamic threats of violence over a book. He reacts to Random House's action here: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article4543243.ece