Most of the world on Saturday expressed shock, grief and condolences for the loss of the US space shuttle Columbia and its seven-member crew, but some in the Arab world saw the tragedy as an instance of divine justice against the United States and Israel.
Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, sent condolences and offered technical assistance.
Official condolences poured in from Western capitals as well.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote letters to US President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, paying tribute to the "courageous" crew of the Columbia, which included the first Israeli in space, Col Ilan Ramon.
French President Jacques Chirac expressed in a letter to Bush "the profound emotion and feeling of solidarity in the ordeal that all my compatriots are feeling".
But on the streets of Baghdad, where many are braced for US military action, some said the loss of the shuttle and its crew was God's retribution.
"We are happy that it broke up," government employee Abdul Jabbar Quraishi told the Reuters news service. "God wants to show that his might is greater than the Americans. They have encroached on our country. God is avenging us."
Noting that among the dead was Ramon, a fighter pilot who participated in a 1981 bombing attack that destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor, car mechanic Mohammed Jaber Tamini said: "Israel launched an aggression on us when it raided our nuclear reactor without any reason. Now time has come and God has retaliated to their aggression."
There was no such jubilation in any of the Palestinian territories,Reuters reported. The official response from the Palestinians was one of condolence.
"We sympathize with the families of the astronauts," said Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo.
But in the Arab League Cafe in Amman, the capital of Jordan, men sitting over sweet, dark tea, dominos and cards expressed little sympathy.
Why should they mourn Americans when the United States says nothing about Iraqi and Palestinian children who are dying, one asked.
"Nothing goes up and nothing comes down unless it's through God's power," said Mahmoud Salim, as he slowly dragged on the honey-flavoured tobacco of a water pipe.