EU and other world leaders Monday strongly condemned as unlawful the assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and warned Israel may have buried the peace process along with any hope of resolving the bloody Arab-Israeli conflict.
Governments urged both sides to show restraint, fearful the killing would unleash a new spiral of violence in a region blighted by decades of conflict.
Palestinian group Hamas has already vowed all-out war on the Jewish state in response to Yassin's assassination in an Israeli helicopter strike at dawn Monday.
Amid a wave of fury in the Palestinian territories, which drew thousands out onto the streets, Arab countries led initial outrage at the killing of the blind, wheelchair-bound, 67-year-old sheikh in Gaza City.
But European Union and Asian leaders were swift to warn that the attack could herald a dangerous new phase in the festering conflict, unresolved since the creation of Israel in 1948.
European Union foreign ministers condemned the assassination, saying it had only "inflamed the situation", and called for restraint.
The 15-nation bloc, the biggest contributor of international aid to the Palestinian Authority, has long urged restraint from both sides in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
French President Jacques Chirac said the EU unreservedly condemned "all acts of violence, especially when they are acts contrary to international law".
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Israel had the right to defend itself against terrorism. "But it is not entitled going for this kind of unlawful killing and we therefore condemn it," he said.
"We are very concerned," added German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. "Along with the EU we have always rejected these killings and described them as unacceptable."
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana condemned the killing as "very, very bad news" for the Middle East peace process.
Russia said it was deeply worried Yassin's assassination could fuel new violence. "(This) could sabotage efforts to restart negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis," foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said.
Moscow urged both sides to renew their commitment to the implementation of the "roadmap" for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Egypt and Jordan, two moderate Arab governments, which have peace treaties with Israel, joined more radical states in condemning the killing.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak cancelled his government's participation in 25th anniversary celebrations for the Camp David accords with Israel, and thousands demonstrated on university campuses around the country.
Jordanian King Abdullah II, who only last week made an unannounced visit to the Jewish state, was quick to condemn Yassin's killing. "This crime will lead to more escalation, violence and instability," he warned.
Thousands took to the streets of both Amman and the kingdom's Palestinian refugee camps to condemn the killing and demand revenge.
In Morocco, King Mohammed VI condemned the "vile aggression that claimed the life of Sheikh Yassin and a group of Palestinian citizens", official news agency Map said.
Iraq's US-installed interim Governing Council warned the killing could fuel violence in Iraq and endanger the whole region. And an outspoken Shiite Muslim cleric Adnan al-Assadi said he and his followers were ready to give "moral or real support" to Hamas.
In the pro-Western Gulf state of Kuwait, Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah predicted the killing would ignite more violence.
In Qatar, site of the US military's main regional headquarters, the foreign ministry accused Israel of trying to "destroy all chances for peace".
Among more radical Arab leaders, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denounced the killing as a "dangerous escalation" and "an odious crime".
And the Libyan foreign ministry denounced "the hideous crimes committed by Israel in an arbitrary and indiscriminate way against the Palestinian people".
Iran also condemned the killing as an act of state-sponsored terrorism against the Palestinian people.
Japan, a large donor to the Middle East, urged Israel to exercise "maximum self-restraint" after Yassin's killing.
South Africa said the only way to break the circle of violence in the Middle East was for Israel to return Palestinian territories and for both sides to resume unconditional talks.
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