»Publisher pulls Khouri's 'fabricated' book«

The Australian publishers of Norma Khouri's book Forbidden Love say the author has been unable to prove her life story is true.

Earlier this week, Khouri provided some documentation to Random House in Australia and in the UK in a bid to refute claims the book is a fabrication.

The book purports to tell of the honour killing of Khouri's best friend, Dalia, who fell in love with a Christian man.

However, the publishers now say her evidence is inadequate and inconclusive.

Random House's Australian managing director, Margaret Seale, says the book will be withdrawn from sale permanently.

Ms Seale says the incident should not cause readers to lose confidence in the publishing industry.

"We publish, as well as many other publishing companies, hundreds of books a year, thousands of books a year," she said.

"In almost every one of those cases, the author-publisher relationship is a very strong, very productive one.

"I don't think there's cause for alarm by readers or for booksellers."