Malaysia, current chairman of the 116-nation Non-Aligned Movement, today strongly condemned the planned US-led attack o­n Iraq as "an illegal act of aggression".

"Malaysia deeply regrets the statement by the president of the US announcing the end of diplomatic efforts and the imminent use of unilateral force to disarm Iraq," Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in a statement.

"The unilateral use of force, undertaken without the support and authorisation of the United Nations Security Council and not in self defence against any armed attack, is clearly in violation of the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter."

Malaysia "underscores that unilateral military action aimed at effecting a regime change is also an illegal act of aggression, constituting an invasion of a sovereign state".