KUALA LUMPUR A coalition comprising more than 100 Malaysian non-governmental organisations launched a peace campaign yesterday to protest against a US war against Iraq.

The coalition, called Peace Malaysia, was formed last month and is led by the youth wing of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno).

It aims to collect a million signatures to be handed over to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad next month so he can "voice our concern" to leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement at their February 20-25 summit, said Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein.

He told reporters that the campaign was to protest US hyprocrisy in its treatment of Iraq, compared with North Korea and Israel, which also have weapons of mass destruction.