All but one of the governments in the Middle East denounced Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
The Egyptian President, Mr Hosni Mubarak, said: "Egypt firmly and strongly condemns such attacks on civilians and soldiers" which are "horrific beyond imagination". Saudi Arabia said such acts "contradict all religious values and civilised, human norms".
The Qatari Foreign Minister, Sheikh Hamad ben Jassem al-Thani, warned "the terrorist attacks" could have "serious consequences for global security". Yemen denounced "terrorist acts ... which threaten security and stability in the world".
The UAE Information Minister, Sheikh Abdullah ben Zayed al-Nahyan, said: "Such horrible attacks require an extensive international campaign to eradicate all forms of terrorism." The Lebanon's Information Minister, Mr Ghazi Aridi, said these events proved no country in the world was immune to violent attack, "irrespective of military might or technological superiority". He suggested Washington reconsider the policies which have generated hatred.
Turkey "deplored" the assault. Jordan's King Abdullah cancelled a visit to the US and the Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat, postponed an important trip to Syria.
Syria vehemently condemned the assault, as did Libya. Mr Muhammad Khatami, the President of Iran, denounced the "kamikaze terrorist attacks" on the US, but the Tehran Times, a hard-line daily, said Washington was "paying the price for its blind support of Israel".
The Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, often critical of US policies, issued condemnations.
Only sanctions-ridden Iraq hailed the attack. Its state television played a patriotic song entitled "Down with America" while showing the collapse of the World Trade Centre in New York and called the action the "operation of the century", mounted to punish the US for its "crimes against humanity".
Regional opposition figures took a similar line without condoning the assault. The spiritual leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, said: "America plants injustice and hatred in the hearts of weak people, so it reaps what it plants."
A former member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ms Leila Khaled, who took part in two hijackings in 1969 and 1970, expressed the view of many Palestinians when she said that only the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, "benefits from these events which provide cover for his aggression against Palestinians".
Key Arab leaders have repeatedly warned the Bush administration that its refusal to intervene in the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis could lead to the rise of terrorism.
Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah said in June that resentments could cause an "explosion" which would "engulf the whole area".
