THE al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, one of the most active suicide terrorist groups in the Middle East, called on Muslims throughout the world to attack British, American and Israeli targets in response to the war in Iraq.

The group issued the statement as Israel’s Government said that it would keep the country on high alert. Citizens have to carry anti-chemical warfare kits at all times and the Israeli Air Force patrols the skies around the clock.

The decision had been taken “because we cannot yet rule out an attack as an act of desperation by Saddam (Hussein)”, Zeev Boim, the Deputy Defence Minister, said.

Major-General Amos Gilad, a government spokesman, said that the threat of Scud missiles being fired at Israel, as had happened in 1991, had not been removed, despite the “intense activity” by coalition forces in western Iraq.

Anger in the Arab world over the invasion of Iraq has been whipped up by images of the bombing campaign and of civilian casualties that have been shown by al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite television network.

The statement by the “martyrs” group, a militant offshoot of the Fatah movement of Yassir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, read: “This onslaught against the Arab nation, which began in Iraq, is aimed at dividing the region in order to establish new Zionist cantons led by neo-Nazis.”

Western security sources said that the appeal had increased the risk to British and American citizens not only in the Middle East, but also in any country where Muslim influence was strong.

The statement, which was issued in the West Bank city of Nablus, also urged Palestinians to carry out suicide attacks inside Israel. Palestinian Authority officials tried to distance Mr Arafat from the call to violence. He is confined to his headquarters in Ramallah in the West Bank.

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