Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today condemned Israel's killing of Hamas leader Abdelaziz Rantissi, warning it would worsen the situation in the Middle East.

"The roadmap to peace, as we can see today, is not being used anymore, and we can say that it has been pushed aside," he said.

Rantissi ( photo ) was killed when an Israeli helicopter fired rockets into his car in Gaza City late Saturday, less than a month after Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was killed in a similar attack, prompting a chorus of international condemnation, except in the United States.

Last week, Abdullah warned that developments in Iraq and the Middle East were threatening world security in letters written to permanent UN Security Council members.

The letters, sent on April 14, were addressed to United States President George W Bush, British Premier Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Hu Jintao.

Abdullah had Malaysia hoped the violence in Iraq would not delay the handover of power and that the five permanent UN Security Council members should seriously consider and support a central role for the UN in Iraq.

"I don't plan to write any more letters, because those I sent are adequate in clearly stating my opinion that the situation in Palestine is bad and that it may get worse," Abdullah said.

Malaysia has called for an emergency meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on April 22 to discuss developments in the Middle East and Iraq. - AFP