The would-be martyrs, two from Syria and one from Saudi Arabia, were seeking the help of a senior Iraqi insurgent commander, “Abu Ahmad”, who eyed them with concern.

“They were tired and said they hadn’t eaten anything for two days,” he said.

With little knowledge of the area, they asked the rebel leader if he would direct them to a suitable target. They also hoped he would supply a force of 25 men to attack the Iraqi police who would inevitably arrive on the scene to mop up once they had detonated themselves.

Abu Ahmad has extensive links with insurgent groups, including Zarqawi’s Al-Qaeda in Iraq, but he balked at this request. Although he claimed to respect the “ardour” of the suicide bombers, he could not condone their tactics.

“It is one thing to attack the Iraqi security forces, the national guard, the police and those who assist the American occupiers, but it is wrong to attack innocent civilians on the basis of their religion,” he explained. “That’s where my group and many others like us draw the line.”

The death toll in Iraq exceeded 200 last week after a co-ordinated series of more than a dozen suicide bombings that mercilessly targeted Shi’ite jobseekers and worshippers. Yesterday, 30 people were killed by a car bomb in the town of Nahrwan, 30 miles east of Baghdad.

At least 11 people were killed by another explosion in a Shi’ite area of Baghdad and nine shot in the head in three separate incidents. The number of victims could easily have been higher: on the bloodiest day of the insurgency last week at least six bombs failed to detonate and seven would-be bombers were caught.

It was, on the face of it, chilling confirmation that Zarqawi’s demand for civil war was being realised.

With barely a month to go before Iraq votes on a new constitution on October 15, the pressure is on the 38-year-old Jordanian terrorist to turn Iraq into a sectarian hell-hole before the democratic political process becomes established. Suicide bombers have been flocking to Baghdad in preparation for an escalation of attacks.

“Wake up from your slumber,” Zarqawi urged the Sunni community in a savage audio message released on an Islamic website. He has threatened to kill Sunni leaders and religious figures who are calling on their community to take part in the referendum, even though they are urging a “no” vote in the hope of protecting their once-privileged status in pre-war Iraq.

Peter Galbraith of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, a former US ambassador, said Zarqawi’s brutal war aims were already being met.

“There is a civil war in Iraq,” he said. “It’s being waged by Sunni insurgents, principally commanded by Zarqawi, whose aim is to kill as many Shi’ites as possible. In retaliation, there is a dirty war of the sort you got in Central America. People in police uniforms pick up Sunnis and they end up as mutilated corpses.”

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