Britain, Italy, Australia 'could be next terror target'

The Islamic militant group that claimed responsibility for last week’s Madrid train bombings has warned that its next targets could be Britain, Japan, Italy, or Australia, an Arabic newspaper reported in Cairo.

The paper Al-Quds al-Arabi said on its web site that it received a statement from “The Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri (al-Qaida)” in which the group reiterated its responsibility for the March 11 attacks.

The group also said it was calling a truce to give the newly elected Spanish government time to carry out its pledge to withdraw troops from Iraq, according to the statement.

“Our brigades are getting ready now for the coming strike,” the statement said.

“Whose turn will it be next? Is it Japan, America, Italy, Britain, Saudi Arabia or Australia?”

The statement warned that “the brigades of death are at your doors,” adding that they would strike “with an iron hand at the right time and place”.

The web site did not say how the statement had been received. But Al-Quds al-Arabi has received e-mails from this group in the past.

On the evening of the Madrid bombings, the paper released a copy of an e-mail from Abu Hafs al-Masri in which they made the first claim of responsibility.

The United States believes the Abu Hafs group lacks credibility and has only tenuous ties to al-Qaida. In the past, the group has claimed responsibility for events to which they were not connected – such as blackouts in North America and Britain.

Moroccan authorities have said the emerging evidence in the Madrid attacks points toward Ansar al-Islam, a guerrilla group blamed for terrorist strikes in Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and Morocco.

Other groups believed to be involved in the bombings are Salafia Jihadia and Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group.

The statement tells American voters that Abu Hafs al-Masri supports the re-election campaign of US President George Bush: “We are very keen that Bush does not lose the upcoming elections.”

Addressing Bush, the statement says: “We know that a heavyweight operation would destroy your government, and this is what we don’t want. We are not going to find a bigger idiot than you.”