Sydney - Five Australians who face life in jail if convicted on terrorism offences possessed pamphlets glorifying suicide bombings that would "kill as many of the enemy as possible," a court in Sydney was told Wednesday.

They venerated "martyrdom operations" that would "spill the blood" of their enemies and libraries of material depicting beheadings and other gruesome killings, Crown prosecutor Richard Maidment said.

"These people selected these items because they were intent on pursuing violent jihad themselves, intent on discovering how that be done legitimately within the teachings of the Islamic faith," he said.

Jurors were told that material seized from them extolled suicide bombings.

"The greatest medicine we can apply to the brothers of the monkeys and pigs was to perform suicide operations," the court heard. "There's no other technique which strikes as much terror in their hearts or shatters their spirit as much."

Maidment said the material was to steel themselves for violent jihad in Australia.

The five on trial are among nine men arrested in Sydney in November 2005. At the same time, six Melbourne men were arrested and also charged with terrorism offences.

The arrests in Sydney and Melbourne came days after Australia updated its terrorism laws so that cases could be brought against those thought to be plotting a terrorist attack who may not have fixed on a specific target. (dpa)