Strike on Syria: World reaction

President Bush urged restraint on Israel in a phone conversation

The Israeli air raid on Syrian territory has prompted concern and condemnation from many world leaders.

Israel informed Washington of the raid only hours after it took place.

US President George W Bush urged Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to avoid acts that would further aggravate hostility and set back peacemaking efforts.

The secretary general strongly deplores the Israeli air strike on Syrian territory UN statement

A White House spokesman said the two men "agreed on the need to continue fighting terrorism... They also agreed on the need to avoid heightening tension in the region at this time".

However, an anonymous official added: "We have repeatedly told the government of Syria that it is on the wrong side in the war on terror and that it must stop harbouring terrorists. That is still our view."

A spokesman for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned the air raid in a statement.

This aggression could drag the whole region into violent whirlpool Arab League statement

"The secretary general strongly deplores the Israeli air strike on Syrian territory earlier today," the statement said.

"He is especially concerned that this further escalation of an already tense and difficult situation has the potential to broaden the scope of current conflicts in the Middle East, further threatening regional peace and security."

In Gaza, the military wing of the leading Palestinian militant group Hamas vowed in a statement on Sunday to exact revenge on Israel for the air raid.

Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi branded Israel's strike a "flagrant aggression and a violation of Syria's territorial integrity", but made no comment on the Israeli allegation that Iran funded the camp targeted in the raid.

The Arab League held an emergency session in Cairo to discuss the attack.

"This aggression represents a serious escalation that threatens regional and international security and peace and exposes the deteriorating situation in the region to uncontrollable consequences, which could drag the whole region into violent whirlpool," the body said in a statement.

The Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, said the attack was an "aggression on a close country," while Qatar and Kuwait - which like Egypt are close US allies - also condemned the Israeli attack.

Israel is of course entitled to take steps to protect itself from terrorist attack, but these steps should be within international law UK Foreign Office

Jordan's Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher said the air strike could "drag the whole region into a circle of violence".

France, which holds a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, said the air strike "constitutes an unacceptable violation of international law and rules of sovereignty".

And Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, on a tour of the Middle East, said: "Violating the sovereignty of a third country complicates further the [peace] process, that's why what happened in Syria cannot be accepted."

A spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said: "Israel is of course entitled to take steps to protect itself from terrorist attack, but these steps should be within international law."