WESTERN governments moved to protect their nationals from the threat of a resurgent al-Qaeda yesterday, issuing a flurry of warnings against travel to large areas of the globe.

From the Middle East to East Africa and South-East Asia, few destinations seemed safe yesterday as intelligence agencies said that the world could be facing a fresh spate of bombings and hijackings. Some countries, which stand to be hit hard by the impact on trade and tourism, denounced the warnings as panic, but others insisted that the terrorist threat was as real today as it was in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Khurshid Kasuri, the Pakistani Foreign Minister, said that alQaeda’s basic structure had been damaged by the war in Afghanistan, but it still was a serious global threat via its affiliates. “Whether or not bin Laden is alive or dead, al-Qaeda still has very dedicated people. They have many new recruits since the war in Iraq,” he said.

Certainly that was the clear impression in America, Australia, Britain, Germany and New Zealand, which all issued fresh travel advisories. US officials said they feared the Riyadh bombing was a prelude to a concerted al-Qaeda fightback.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office stepped up its warnings for East Africa, where it has already ordered the suspension of all British commercial flights to and from Kenya. It said that there was also “a clear terrorist threat” in other countries, including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Tanzania.

America, which has sent scores of investigators to Saudi Arabia to search for clues into the triple suicide bombings in Riyadh, said that it feared similar attacks could be imminent in the commercial capital Jedda, particularly against expatriates living in the al-Hamra district.

US officials named Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Kenya and the Gulf States as possible targets but the greatest area of concern was Saudi Arabia. The compounds targeted this week were linked to the Saudi Government, particularly Crown Prince Abdullah, the Saudi ruler, and could be the start of concerted strikes to embarrass the kingdom’s rulers.

“This is a battleground rather than simply a nice place for civilians to live,” said Robert Jordan, the US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. “Everyone has to confront that.” A British doctor in Jedda said: “We are seriously worried. Many people are leaving. I’ve lived here 25 years but if there was another attack, I would seriously consider going.”

Australia and New Zealand advised their nationals to avoid large crowds and public places in South-East Asian countries. Germany also chipped in with warnings about visits to Africa and Asia. Kenya, with an economy that relies heavily on tourism, was dismayed by the reaction to the latest terrorist threat and suggested that the international community had overreacted.

Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the Malaysian Prime Minister, whose country appeared on several travel advisory lists, dismissed the latest warnings as panic. “This is because they (the Americans) felt guilty as they have committed all sorts of actions like killing and oppressing others, and they are afraid of their own shadow,” he said.

In part these criticisms of overreaction are justified. All major terrorist intelligence is shared, so one warning can quickly snowball into a global alert. After the bombings in Bali, Mombasa and Riyadh, where some tip-offs were ignored, most governments now prefer to go public rather than risk being accused of failing to protect their nationals.

The warnings of future attacks are vague. They stem from intelligence assessments that this week’s co-ordinated blasts in Riyadh were an attempt by al-Qaeda to show that it is far from the waning force of which President Bush has talked. US analysts fear that operations that have been in the pipeline for months are being accelerated.

One country that does not issue terrorist warnings is Israel. It says that if it published all threats to it no one would leave their homes.

Explore World News

• World Agenda

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• Rio Tinto four held as China prepares case
• Diplomats must keep heads down and trousers up
• When in Rome should one make like Berlusconi?