MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Videos of Muslim extremists beheading hostages were found in the home of the spiritual leader of 12 Muslims on trial for planning violent jihad to force Australia to withdraw its troops from Iraq, the prosecutor said.
The videos related to the 2004 executions in Iraq ofAmericans Jack Hensley, Eugene Armstrong and Nick Berg, saidprosecutor Richard Maidment, on the second day of Australia'sbiggest terrorism trial.
The 12 men led by Abdul Nacer Benbrika face charges ofbeing members of an unnamed terrorist organisation and planningto use explosives or weapons for an undisclosed terrorist act,with the intention of coercing a government or intimidating thepublic.
Another video found in Benbrika's house showed an unnamedKorean man begging for his life before he was beheaded by amasked man using a sword, Maidment said.
"I wouldn't recommend anyone viewing them (the executions).They were harrowing," he said according to a court report bythe Australian Associated Press report.
Maidment said other members of the group also had videos ofthe executions.
The prosecutor told the court on Monday that Benbrika, whopraised al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden as a "great man", hadtalked about killing thousands of people to force Australia towithdraw its troops from Iraq.
Australia has about 550 combat troops in Iraq, which itplans to withdraw by about the middle of 2008. Australia alsohas about 1,000 troops in Afghanistan.
Documents seized from some of the 12 men praised thehijackers involved in the September 11 attacks on the UnitedStates and included bomb making manuals, said the prosecutor.
A book titled "The 19 Lions", a reference to the 19hijackers, was found during a raid on the home of one of themen, local media reported from the court on Thursday.
"It (the document) glorifies the aircraft hijackersresponsible for the September 11 attacks, suggests they will godown in history, glorifies them as martyrs," said Maidment.
"It suggests they will go down in history as perpetratingone of the greatest victories ever perpetrated in the name ofIslam," he said.
Maidment said documents also included bomb making manuals,which showed how to make a bomb using easily obtainablechemicals. "Some of it is 'Boy's Own' stuff but it has aserious side to it," he told the court.
The prosecutor said Benbrika had a list suggestingpotential targets, which included stock exchanges, energyplants, ports, motorways, tunnels and military bases.
The trial is expected to last nine months.
(Reporting by Michael Perry, editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
