Osama bin Laden singled out Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan as targets for "martyrdom operations" in a chilling audio tape issued only three months before the latest string of bombings.

All three countries were struck by terrorist attacks last week, adding to fears that the al-Qaida leader may have ordered a new wave of bombings across the world

As the death toll in Friday's Casablanca suicide attacks rose to 41, it emerged that Morocco was one of six countries identified by bin Laden as "ready for liberation" in a section of the tape calling for "martyrdom operations" by Islamic extremists.

"True Muslims should act, incite and mobilize the nation in such great events . . . in order to break free from the slavery of these tyrannic and apostate regimes enslaved by America," he said. "Among regions ready for liberation are Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, the country of the two shrines (Saudi Arabia), Yemen and Pakistan."

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The blasts in Morocco and Saudi Arabia were being seen in Washington on Saturday as an ominous sign that al-Qaida may either have revived in a different form, or may be inspiring a new generation of Islamic radicals.

The latest bombings followed a series of claims by intelligence officials that al-Qaida has opened new training camps in east Africa.

A senior American official claimed that at least one camp had been opened in Sudan.

The renewed terrorist activity has obliged American officials to revise their previous optimism that al-Qaida's failure to respond to the U.S. invasion of Iraq was a sign that the group was dying.

» Bin Laden triggered bombings in tape