Attempting to emulate the successes of the Madrid bombing and the Filipino hostages - which were associated respectively with Spain and the Philippines' withdrawal from the coalition in Iraq - Tawhid and other Islamist groups are targeting other American allies.

Lebanese security broke up a plot to carbomb the Italian Embassy in Beirut earlier this week.

There is the tragic drama of Britain's Kenneth Bigley causing tension in Britain. Interestingly, in the hostage crisis of the 1980s in Lebanon, the Brits stood firm and refused to negotiate, while the French paid off the terrorists. Both strategies worked. It was the US, which said it would not negotiate and then secretly shipped weapons to Iran that got the worst of both worlds.

Only a few weeks ago Australia's Embassy in Indonesia was targeted.

I hope Poland's internal security is on high alert - they are almost certainly on the hit list.