Britain and US 'to be next'

A cell of the al Qaeda terror network which claimed responsibility for the Madrid train massacre has issued a warning that Britain and America are next on the list.

The group said plans to strike America with a "black wind of death" were 90 per cent complete.

The warning was sent to the London-based Arabic newspaper, Al Quds.

It was said to have come from a group calling itself the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri. This is believed to be the same cell that carried out a series of bombings last year, including those on British targets in Turkey which killed consul Roger Short. An email, which also warned that Britain was on the terror group's target list, claimed that it had carried out " Operation Death on Trains" in Spain.

Spanish police investigating the massacre which left 198 dead and more than 1,400 injured originally blamed Basque terror group ETA. But today they opened a second line of inquiry after evidence pointed towards al Qaeda.

They are examining seven detonators and a tape in Arabic containing verses from the Koran which were found in a stolen van abandoned in a Madrid suburb.

The new warning came amid reports that up to seven Britons, including a child, were among the injured being treated in Madrid.

So far, there are no reports of Britons being among the dead.

Thirteen bombs were placed in suburban trains heading into Madrid's main rail terminal Atocha. Ten of the devices, each hidden in a backpack, exploded. The final death toll is expected to exceed 202 - the number who died in the Bali bombing - which will make it the worst terrorist incident since September 11.

Madrid announced there would be three days of mourning.

In London anti-terrorist detectives were closely monitoring the events in Spain. One source said: "This has all the hallmarks of al Qaeda.

"These were closely co-ordinated and well-planned bombs which struck without warning at a mass transit system with the sole aim of killing as many civilians as possible. It certainly looks like al Qaeda."

Today senior Yard and other police officers were reviewing the security measures already in place in London to protect targets such as train and Tube stations.

Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir John Stevens said covert and uniform patrols were already being carried out while Britain remained on the second highest level of terrorist alert.

Other measures in place included portable scanning devices used by police to detect potential suicide bombers.

The claim of responsibility for the train bombs by the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri stated: "We announce the good news for the Muslims in the world that the strike of the black wind of death, the expected strike against America, is now at its final stage - 90 per cent ready - and it is coming soon, by God's will.

"The faithful will be happy for God's victor." It added that its "death squad" had penetrated "one of the pillars of the crusader alliance," adding: "This is part of settling old accounts with Spain,

the crusader, and America's ally in its war against Islam."

The editor of Al Quds, Abdel Bari Atwan, said he believed the claim of responsibility was genuine.

"In the past, the same organisation sent us similar letters. They claimed responsibility for the attacks against Italian troops in Iraq and also for other attacks in Istanbul against the British consulate," he said.

Some terrorism experts argued that it is simply a tactic to terrorise the American people, whether it is true or not.

The Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri takes its name from Abu Hafs - al Qaeda's former military commander who was killed by a US air strike in Afghanistan in 2001.

The group is believed to be affiliated to the al Qaeda network. Terrorist-expert Mike Yardley, a psychologist and historian of terrorism, said the al Qaeda method of attack was unexpected, low-tech and with the aim of inflicting mass casualties.

He added: "The scale of the Madrid attacks fits al Qaeda. You've lots of bombs on packed trains, so you've got a concentration of people and the attack will inflict the maximum possible number of casualties.

"It was also a relatively sophisticated attack and well co-ordinated."

Observers pointed out that many aspects of the outrage did not follow the usual ETA pattern.

The main difference was the sheer magnitude of the attack and its indiscriminate nature.