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Dubai: A London-based Saudi newspaper, Al-Majallah, said it has received a statement from al-Qaeda warning of an attack in Tokyo and claiming responsibility for last week's anti-Italian bombing in Iraq.

Abu Mohammed al-Ablaj, purported to be an al-Qaeda leader, warned the Japanese against sending troops to join the US-led coalition in Iraq, in an e-mail received by the Saudi weekly.

"If they want to destroy their economic power and be trampled under the feet of the combatants of Allah, let them come to Iraq," he said. "Our strikes will reach the heart of Tokyo."

A day after an anti-coalition suicide bombing in Southern Iraq that killed 19 Italians and nine Iraqis, Japan had toned down an earlier pledge to send troops to Iraq by the end of this year.

Japanese Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba has since said that Tokyo remains committed to aiding with the reconstruction of Iraq, but the timing of a deployment of Japanese troops depends on the situation.

Ablaj also claimed the strike on the Italian police post in Nasiriyah on behalf of al-Qaeda.

"Our strikes...will be painful, and what we did to the Italians in Iraq, against their command base in Nasiriyah in the South of the county, is an example," said Ablaj, who often communicates by e-mail with Al-Majallah.

Agencies