Terror group's threat played down

By GREG ANSLEY Australia correspondent

CANBERRA - Australian security officials have given little credibility to threats made against the nation by a group claiming responsibility for the Madrid terror bombings.

The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which claims to be part of the al Qaeda terror network, named Australia as a potential target in a letter to the British-based Arabic language publication Al-Quds Al-Arabi.

The group's letter also identified Britain, Japan, Italy and Saudi Arabia as "American lackeys" to be targeted for attacks.

The letter was published as the jailed leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror organisation, Abu Bakar Bashir, warned that United States allies, including Australia, would be destroyed in the name of Allah.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the threats were attempts to break alliances with the US following Spain's move to withdraw its troops from Iraq following the Madrid bombings.

"Organisations like Jemaah Islamiyah and al Qaeda are not going to tell Australia what to do," he said.

A spokesman for Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, who is responsible for Australia's counter-terrorism effort, questioned the credibility of the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades and its authority to speak for al Qaeda.

"They seem to have [wrongly] claimed credit for a number of actions in recent years, but they appear to have little credibility in terms of their ability to speak for al Qaeda. There is nothing new in their threats. These threats have been made by al Qaeda from more credible sources over a number of years."

The spokesman said there was at this stage no suggestion that Australia's "medium" level of threat alert would be changed.

The group's claim to have carried out the Madrid bombings conflicted with a separate claim issued in the name of al Qaeda, and has been given little weight by terrorism experts.

An analysis of the group's earlier statements by Middle East Research Institute president Yigal Carmon showed language "incompatible with or alien to" verified statements by Osama bin Laden and other senior al Qaeda figures.

Although the group is listed by the US State Department as a terrorist organisation, Washington has also cast doubt on its claims to have carried out the Madrid bombings, and on its ability to carry out any of its new threats.

In its letter to Al Quds Al-Arabi, the group warned the "brigades of death" were preparing to strike again with an iron fist, at the appropriate place and time.

"Will it be the turn of Japan, America, Italy, Britain, the al-Sauds [Saudi Arabia's royal family], or Australia?" the letter said.

But the group's appearance has been relatively recent and apart from its name - taken from the alias of slain senior bin Laden aide Mohammed Atef - its links to al Qaeda are considered tenuous.

The group has laid claim to atrocities carried out by other organisations, including the Jemaah Islamiyah bombing of a Jakarta, Indonesia, hotel, and to the power failure that last August blacked out huge areas of the US and Canada - which was in fact caused by technical problems.