OTSU, Japan, March 20 (Reuters) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who gave tacit approval for the 1991 Gulf War, said on Thursday the U.S. attack on Iraq was a major mistake that would do huge damage to international relations and security.
Gorbachev, who was president of the Soviet Union when the first Gulf War broke out in January 1991, told reporters at an international water conference in Japan that it seemed the United States was trying to make the world its own province.
"I believe not only that this war is unjustified, it is a major political mistake," Gorbachev said.
"It will do tremendous damage to international relations and to world security," he said.
"It is an attempt to teach a lesson to all other states and shows that the U.S. administration is trying to make the world its own province."
Gorbachev tried to act as a middleman to prevent the Gulf War in 1991 but the Soviet Union did not use its right of veto within the United Nations Security Council to oppose the war.
This time Russia strongly opposed U.S. plans to attack Iraq.
Its opposition, along with that of France, contributed to the decision earlier this week by the United States, Britain and Spain to drop the idea of a second U.N. resolution authorising the use of force to disarm Iraq.
Gorbachev, in Japan to attend the World Water Forum in the city of Otsu, some 365 km (227 miles) west of Tokyo, said the reasons given for the war were an illusion.
"It certainly has nothing to do with real leadership in international affairs to which the United States is making a claim," he said.
"Now that war has broken out I think we are facing a totally new situation where our worst fears are being realised. We need to act with a cool head, we need cool analysis.
"Let us act to minimise the loss of life and the destructive consequences to international relations," he said.
Gorbachev, who resigned as president of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991, currently heads Green Cross, a non-governmental organisation. He is taking part in a series of discussions on "Water and Peace."
Alexy II denounces beginning of war in Iraq
MOSCOW. March 20 (Interfax) - Alexy II, the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, has denounced the U.S. led campaign against Iraq and urged Iraq's neighbors to accept refugees.
"Give them shelter and keep them warm with the kindness of your hearts," Patriarch Alexy II said in a statement issued in connection with the start of the war in Iraq. Interfax obtained the statement on Thursday.
"The Russian Orthodox Church again calls on the governments of the anti-Iraqi coalition to stop the bloodshed. Do your best to prevent the spread of military operations. Resume negotiations for peace. Spare thousands of innocent people," the statement runs.
"I call on everyone who can help to do their best to put an end to the war as soon as possible. I pray the Lord will bring peace to the Middle East. May the Lord give us the wisdom to settle the Iraq crisis."