CANBERRA - Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad launched another assault o­n Australia today, accusing Prime Minister John Howard of backing war o­n Iraq with no thought for the civilians who would be killed.

"We are very much opposed to this war because the basis is not sound - you don't go to war to kill the people you want to save," Mahathir told The Canberra Times newspaper in an interview from his office in Kuala Lumpur.

"You say you want to save Iraqi people from Saddam Hussein, but war will mean killing the Iraqi people before you can kill Saddam Hussein," he said, referring to the Iraqi leader.

"When people like Howard seem not to care for the lives of people in a war that is not actually connected to Australia, it is something that we cannot understand but we certainly condemn."

Mahathir also complained that the conservative Australian leader was "not sensitive at all that around him there are about 200 million people who ordinarily would be opposed to war."

Terrorising the world

"But as Muslims we are particularly opposed, because it is not really about the fight against the terrorists. It is terrorising the world," he said.

Howard has been o­ne of the staunchest supporters of US President George W Bush's aggressive stance o­n Iraq.

Australia and Britain are the o­nly two nations to have deployed troops as part of the US military buildup around Iraq.

Earlier this week as chairman of a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement, Mahathir launched a scathing attack o­n US foreign policy.

"It is no longer just a war against terrorism," he said, "It is in fact a war to dominate the world."

Relations between Australia and Mahathir have long been frosty.

In addition to the Iraq issue, Mahathir was highly critical of Australia's response to a bombing by suspected Islamic militants of a nightclub o­n the Indonesian island of Bali in which 88 Australians and more than 100 other people were killed.

Australia angered its Southeast Asian neighbors after the bombing by issuing warnings against travel in most of the region - a step which damaged key tourism industries.

Australian police also launched a series of raids against Muslims suspected of links to terrorist groups, further aggravating relations with Malaysia and Indonesia.- AFP