Terror group threaten Bruno star

The British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has been forced to step up security after a Palestinian militia group ridiculed in his new satirical film Brüno threatened to "respond in the way we find suitable". The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah movement, said it was "very upset" about a scene in which Baron Cohen, playing a gay Austrian fashion reporter (above), arranges a meeting with Ayman Abu Aita, who is identified as one of the group's leaders.

In typical Baron Cohen style, Abu Aita was tricked into taking part in Bruno after being told it was a documentary to help "mobilise the young people to help us [Palestinians]."

In the resulting scene, Baron Cohen as Brüno tells Abu Aita: "I want to be famous. I want the best guys in the business to kidnap me. Al-Qaeda are so 2001." He then advises Abu Aita to shave off his moustache, "because your King Osama looks like a kind of dirty wizard or homeless Santa".

Though Abu Aita is reported to have had links with the Martyrs Brigades in the past, he insists he is no longer involved with the group which was responsible for more than 50 Israeli civilian deaths in the period 2002-04.

He says he is now a political representative for the Fatah party in Bethlehem and a board member of the Holy Land Trust, a non-governmental organisation promoting Palestinian rights with a commitment to non violence. He claims to be pursuing legal action against the makers of Brüno.

But this did not stop the Martyrs Brigade issuing a statement, through Jerusalem-based journalist Aaron Klein of the WorldNetDaily website, saying the scene in Brüno was "a dirty use of our brother Ayman".

The statement read: "We reserve the right to respond in the way we find suitable against this man. The movie was part of a conspiracy against the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade."

A spokesman for Baron Cohen has refused to comment on the threat.