In a series of video and audio clips, the Beginner’s Guide for Mujahed gives detailed advice on physical training, the surveillance of enemy targets and operational tactics.

It features footage of an Arab instructor who recommends would-be holy warriors to invest in a knife for self-defence, saying: “Of course, this knife is mainly for stabbing and is not suitable or good for beheadings.”

Referring to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al-Qaeda’s leader in Iraq whose followers murdered the British hostage Ken Bigley by slitting his throat, the instructor adds: “As far as beheadings are concerned, we ask our brothers to seek Abu Musab’s advice on this issue as he has more experience in this.”

Another section focuses on the use of binoculars and night vision equipment for the surveillance of “human enemy or enemy targets or vehicles”.

The instructor implores Allah to “grant his mujaheddin victory over . . . the Jews, the Americans and the apostates”.

An audio segment of the course posted on the website’s discussion forum advises that urban warfare is best conducted by several terrorist cells that may share a leader but should remain unknown to each other in case members are captured. One cell should stake out a target, another should acquire military equipment or explosives, and a third should actually mount the attack.

Massari’s website, www.tajdeed.net, also hosts a Hollywood-style film presenting a gory “top 10” of attacks by insurgents on westerners in Iraq and provides helpful tips for fighters trying to gain entry to the country.

A fatwa by Massari supporting “martyrdom operations”, which was originally posted on his website in 2002, was still accessible last week.

Last November The Sunday Times revealed that footage of a suicide attack on a Black Watch patrol in Iraq had been posted on the tajdeed forum. The story sparked an investigation by anti-terrorist police who seized computer equipment and hard drives in a raid on properties linked to the Saudi dissident.

Analysts believe the forum is one of a handful regularly used by jihadis to exchange information and for the recruitment of potential terrorists.

“Muhammed al-Massari has been ahead of the curve in what we now call the electronic jihad,” said Rebecca Givner-Forbes, an analyst at the Terrorism Research Center in Virginia, a security consultancy that advises the United States government.

“There are six or seven jihadi websites which are what I call the ‘in crowd’ sites,” she added. “Massari’s site runs a message board that is definitely on that list.”

The 58-year-old Saudi exile, who lives in Wembley, north London, arrived in Britain in 1994 and has continuously campaigned for the replacement of the Saudi royal family by an Islamic regime.

He survived an attempt to deport him in 1996 and has been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK. Last year he described Tony Blair as a legitimate target for assassination.

Massari said last week that the forum on his website was not censored by him “as long as it’s not obscene or pornographic”.

He added: “For example, if someone posts that Tony Blair is a vicious genocide and criminal, we will not object. But if he says that his mother is a prostitute, we will stop him.”

Last Thursday the Home Office served deportation orders on 10 foreigners resident in Britain on the grounds that their presence was “not conducive to the public good”. More orders could be served this week.

Asked if he feared being targeted by the government, Massari said: “If the law is changed and we cannot do our work, then we can either challenge them . . . or we pack our luggage and proceed to the airport.”

Patrick Mercer, the Conservative homeland security spokesman, said: “These activities put Massari in the frame for deportation and to have his website closed.”

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