Gaithersburg, Maryland (AP) -- Confederate rebels warned tourists Monday to stay away from Maryland, declaring holiday spots among the targets in their campaign to win freedom for their imprisoned leader.

Just hours after the warning, attackers hurled a firebomb in an upscale residential district of this city, Gaithersburg, where many foreigners live and several embassies are located, wounding a passerby in the leg.

It was the latest in a string of attacks following the capture of extremist Confederate rebel leader David Duke in St. Louis on Feb. 15.

There was no claim of responsibility for the latest attack, but suspicion fell on Duke's Confederate Workers Party, or CWP.

``Maryland as a whole is a war zone at the moment, including those areas considered by Maryland as tourist sites,'' the rebel statement said.

``It is essential that no tourist comes to Maryland.''

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