CAIRO, July 30: Muslim leaders worldwide fiercely condemned a bloody Israeli raid in southern Lebanon on Sunday and called for international action against the Jewish state.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mussa issued a statement in which he “strongly condemned Israel’s ongoing barbaric attacks on Lebanon, the latest of which is the attack on the village of Qana”.

He called for “an international investigation into this massacre and others of Israeli war crimes” committed in Lebanon.

The Organisation of the Islamic Conference said: “The latest Israeli massacre amounts to a war crime and shows Israel’s contempt for international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in times of war.”

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak termed the attack “irresponsible” and reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit also summoned the Israeli ambassador to express “Egypt’s anger” over the strike.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II in a statement strongly condemned the raid and said: “This criminal aggression is a flagrant violation of international laws.”

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad described it as state terrorism — and called for an immediate ceasefire.

Iran blamed the attack on the visit by the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region.

“The result of Rice’s trip to the region is the Qana massacre,” foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said. “Zionist regime officials as well as some US statesmen should be put on trial for the crimes they commit.”

The head of the Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guards said the country should “prepare itself to fight Israel”.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas also condemned the attack and asked the United Nations to oversee an immediate ceasefire, top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said.

The United Arab Emirates condemned the “ugly massacre”.

“This crime ... provides new proof of Israel’s systematic policy of using its destructive weapons to kill in an indiscriminate way and without consideration for international laws and conventions that protect civilians,” said Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.—AFP