The Australian publisher of a purported autobiographical book about an honour killing in Jordan said yesterday it would permanently withdraw it from sale after the work was branded a hoax and the author failed to provide evidence that it was true.

The book, Forbidden Love, by Norma Khouri, was pulled from Australian bookshops last month after the Sydney Morning Herald said an investigation by its literary editor proved Khouri was living in the US at the time her book claimed she was in Jordan.

The book's US and British publishers also stopped sales.

Random House's Australian managing director, Margaret Seale, said the book would be permanently withdrawn from sale and plans for a second book by Khouri dropped.

"I think Forbidden Love is a great story," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"It's just very disappointing that we haven't had the evidence to prove to us that the allegations raised were incorrect."

Khouri, who was not in Australia, had submitted documents to Random House to show the book was a factual account of her life in Jordan.

But the publisher said it had not been conclusive proof.

On Tuesday, Khouri's Australian lawyer, Peter Black, said she had asked him to prepare a defamation action against the Sydney Morning Herald and its literary editor.

In the book, Khouri wrote that her best friend, Dalia, had been murdered by her father in an honour killing.

But the Herald alleged that although Khouri was born in Jordan, at the age of three she moved to Chicago, where she spent most of her life.