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."