CAIRO, June 7: A statement bearing Al Qaeda's name warned on Monday that Western airliners will be the terror group's target. The statement appeared on an Islamist Web site known for posting messages from militants , including the video in which a terror group with Al Qaeda links executed the American kidnapped in Iraq, Nick Berg.

The statement's authenticity could not be immediately verified, but it was signed "Al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula." The statement referred "crusaders" and warned "all that is affiliated with these crusaders - from compounds, bases and means of transport - especially Western and American airliners, will be direct targets of our next operations, with God's help."

The statement begins by warning all Muslims to avoid "contact with the American and Western crusaders and all non-believers in the Arabian peninsula." It urges Muslims to ignore Americans and Westerners "in their homes, compounds, movements and means of transport - in all shapes and forms."

The statement says the purpose of this warning is to spare "our Muslim brothers' blood." "We act only to protect them, their religion, honour and life," the statement says.

It reiterates its warning to those who work in proximity to Westerners: "We renew our warning to all security personnel, guards of crusader compounds and American bases, and all those that have stood by America and its allies ... We ask them to return to the right path, to separate themselves from non-believers, to become their enemies and to fight holy war against them by money, word and weapon."

"This enemy," the statement goes on to say, "must be fought. There is no other way but to fight it and eradicate it." The statement appeared to be concerned with the American presence in Saudi Arabia rather than in Iraq. It referred to the Arabian Peninsula, which is south of Iraq, in its signature and it spoke of "agents of the tyrannical Saudi government."

The Web site has carried several statements and claims of responsibility from Islamic militants, most recently for last month's terrorist attack in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. -APP