BEIRUT, March 30: Palestinian group Islamic Jihad said on Sunday it had sent a first wave of suicide bombers to Baghdad to help Iraqis fight US and British troops.

“Al-Quds Brigades brings to our people and nation the good news of the arrival of its first martyrdom to the heart of Baghdad,” a faxed statement from the armed wing of Islamic Jihad said.

“This is to fulfil the holy duty of defending Arab and Muslim land,” it said.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility on Sunday for a suicide bombing at a crowded pedestrian mall in the Israeli seaside town of Netanya that injured at least 30 people, calling the attack a “gift” to the Iraqi people.

Islamic Jihad’s Lebanon representative, Abu Imad al-Rifai, confirmed the statement to Reuters. He said the suicide bombers had not come from Palestinian territories but from several countries.

Rifai declined to say how many potential Islamic Jihad suicide bombers had gone to Iraq but said more were on the way.

“Some have already arrived and others will come later... If there are means for people to go, they will,” Rifai said.

Asked if the Islamic Jihad members said to have gone to Baghdad had orders to carry out suicide bombings, Rifai said: “Yes, correct”.

Iraqi authorities said President Saddam Hussein had awarded posthumous medals to a suicide car bomber who killed four US soldiers in southern Iraq on Saturday.

Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said thousands of Arab volunteers were arriving in Iraq to help fight the invaders.—Reuters