Comment 32 for bug 481541

Yes, Ben it can - with slight modification. Look at the patch above it, "short
term fix." If you ignore the changes to the options window (I assume you
wouldn't want this in the UI), the patch will make all diverted links
(window.open, external, and target _blank) load in the foreground, by default,
and creates a pref called browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground that can
regulate the focus of diverted links.