A 21-year-old appeared in court on Saturday accused of producing a terrorism-related handbook and spreading the information on the Internet, according to Beijing Youth Daily.

The man, surnamed Feng, was allegedly responsible for the creation of the book entitled Handbook for Terrorists.

Prosecutors said the 20-page document included information on at least 10 types of bombs or explosives and the 10 chapters also contained information on actually making explosives.

At the end of each chapter, the author posed questions such as "Which type of explosive is most effective for use in Iraq?"

The books also included such advice as: "To be well acquainted with the chemical properties of the explosives is to better serve terrorism" and expressions like "Osama bin Laden, the defender of terrorism, once said "

The online handbook was reportedly viewed about 2,000 times and downloaded 116 times after it was uploaded onto an online site in November 2009 and in April this year.

The handbook was not deleted from the Internet until May 20.

Feng reportedly dropped out of college in 2006 and did not resume his studies until 2009.

The book was said to have been compiled during this time while he was living at home with his parents.

Feng argued in court that the handbook was not his creation but was full of things he downloaded from the Internet.

He said he put them together and named the collection Handbook for Terrorists just to attract more attention.

He said he did not intend it to be used for violent purposes but it was supposed to be fun.

He also told the court that he did not think he could be held responsible if someone used information in the book to commit a crime because he was only providing basic knowledge.

Feng has been charged with imparting criminal methods and his trial will continue in Chaoyang district court.

China Daily

(China Daily 09/27/2010)