In the Middle East, Iran condemned the US-led attack on Iraq and described the move as "illegitimate".

In a statement released early Thursday, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said "American military operations on Iraq are unjustifiable and illegitimate."

In a televised speech, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said US aggression on Iraq is against humanity and he called on the Iraqi people to resist the aggression.

US attacks on Iraq were "a shameful crime" against Iraq and humanity, said Saddam three hours after the start of US military operations. Iraq was being treated "unjustly," he said.

In Europe, the German government on Thursday stressed that the United Nations must play the central role in the post-war restoration of peace in Iraq.

In a statement issued shortly after the start of the war, the German government regretted that the United States has started thewar against Iraq.

"The news of the beginning of the war has caused in the Germany government great concerns and dismay," it said.

France, which had threatened to use its veto power in the UN Security Council to kill a US-sponsored new UN resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq, also expressed deep concern on Thursday over the US-led military attacks against Iraq, calling for an end to the conflict "as soon as possible."

"As the first military operation in Iraq starts, the French authorities express their deep concern," Foreign Ministry spokesman Francis Rivasseau said in a statement.

He said the French authorities have called on other countries in the region "to abstain from any initiative that could aggravate the situation."

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov on Thursday expressed his regret over the outbreak of the US-led war against Iraq.

"The Russian administration expresses regret that the Iraq crisis is being dealt with military forces and without a resolution from the UN Security Council," said the prime minister when opening a government session.

Russia has done everything it could to ensure that the crisis be resolved within the international security system, he added.

Finnish President Tarja Halonen also said on Thursday her government regretted the US decision to launch military operations against Iraq without a UN Security Council mandate.

The use of force against Iraq without a UN Security Council mandate should not be allowed, Halonen told a press conference after a meeting of the government's committee on foreign affairs and security policy, which was convened by the president shortly after the US-led war in Iraq started on Thursday.

Swiss President Pascal Couchepin also condemned the US-led war against Iraq as a "violation of the UN charter."

Couchepin, speaking during a special session of the Swiss parliament on Thursday, said the war was equivalent to "playing with fire."

He said Switzerland would maintain its neutrality, banning US coalition military flights in Swiss airspace during the conflict.

Malaysia, current leader of the 116-nation Non-Aligned Movement, condemned the war against Iraq. "We condemn the unsanctioned attack on Iraq," said a spokesman for Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

As a Muslim-majority nation, Malaysia has warned that war on Iraq will lead to more terrorist attacks against Western targets.

In Indonesia, moderate and radical Muslim leaders reacted angrily to the start of the US-led war on Iraq.

Syafii Ma' arif, chairman of the second largest mainstream Muslim group Muhammadiyah, described the US attack as "a savage war." He said Saddam should be replaced but "not through the meansof war."

In East Timor, President Xanana Gusmao expressed "profound regrets" at the start of the war. Gusmao said in a statement that he was "extremely concerned with the consequences that war can produce loss of lives and physical and psychological destruction."

Meanwhile, Thailand distanced itself form the war on Iraq and called on the United States to exercise restraint in its military strikes.

"We will not get directly involved in the war," Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters. "At this moments we only ask (the United States) to be cautious and not to cause civilian damage. All actions should be limited to military targets," he said.

However, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo expressed support for the US-led war on Iraq, and called for vigilance against possible terror attacks.

"The Philippines is part of the coalition of the willing," Arroyo said in a speech at the Philippine Military Academy in northern Baguio city. "We are giving political and moral support for actions to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction," she said.

Also in Asia, South Korea voiced its backing to a US-led war in Iraq and said it may dispatch non-combat troops to help. The South Korean government supports the United States and international community's efforts to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction, said Ra Jong-il, senior security adviser to President Roh Moo-hyun.

Just an hour after US President George W. Bush announced the start of the military operations against Iraq, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated his moral support for Washington. "At this time...I understand, and I support the start of the use of force by the United States," Koizumi told a news conference.

According to other reports, Portugal on Thursday reaffirmed itsstrong backing for Washington just hours after US-led forces launched a war against Iraq, and expressed the hope that the conflict will be short.

"At this difficult hour, Portugal reaffirms its support to its allies ...and hopes that this action will be over as soon as possible and will carry out all its objectives," Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso said in a televised address to the nation.

The United States launched missile strikes into Baghdad at dawn on Thursday in what US defense officials said were preparatory strikes ahead of a broader war.

It came about 90 minutes after the expiration of a 48-hour deadline set by President Bush demanding Saddam and his two sons leave or face war.

More than 250,000 US troops are amassed in and around the Gulf region, joined by tens of thousands of British troops, for military strikes against Iraq.

(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2003)