India sought to play down the latest al-Qaeda threat warning that diplomatic missions in New Delhi were among the terror network's new targets.

Agencies quoted Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal as saying that "there is no confirmed news of any such threat till now. However, our forces and the state machinery are always ready to face such threats. Our forces are alert to avert any such attempt. I want to appeal to the people that they need not worry about such threats."

In its new video released on Sunday, the al-Qaeda proclaimed that "the targeting of Tel Aviv, Moscow and Delhi" is its "legitimate right". It also accused India of "killing more than 100,000 Muslims in Kashmir with US blessings". The video was posted on LauraMansfield.com, an American website which monitors terrorist groups.

The video shows Adam Gadahn, a wanted American member of the al Qaeda, lashing out at the US-led "crusade" against Muslims. He said diplomatic missions were the bases for anti-Muslim actions.

Just last week, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan had disclosed that the al-Qaeda had conducted reconnaissance missions to India earlier but aborted the operation. "But terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba are part of the al-Qaeda. So in a way, they (al-Qaeda cells) are already here," Narayanan said in an interview.

In a message to the US and its "crusader allies," Gadahn says: "The amount of respect we have for your international law is even less than the respect you hold for defined sharia, and our observance of it is comparable to your observance of sharia."

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