Arab and non-aligned nations demanded an end to the U.S.-led war against Iraq and called on the U.N. Security Council to break its silence and find a way to return to peaceful methods for disarming Saddam Hussein. Secretary-General Kofi Annan opened Wednesday's council meeting by expressing regret that efforts to avert war had failed. He said the warring parties must now ensure the protection of civilians; those injured in the conflict, and prisoners of war, as well the safe distribution of vital humanitarian aid.

The 22-member Arab Group and the Non-Aligned Movement, which represents about 115 mainly developing countries, had asked for Wednesday's meeting to denounce the military action.

But they did not introduce a resolution demanding a halt to the fighting and withdrawal of all foreign forces, apparently out of concern that it would not pass. Both the United States and Britain would be likely to veto it.

The meeting was to continue Thursday as nearly 80 nations had signed up to speak.

In an interview Wednesday with al-Jazeera, the Arab TV service based in Qatar, US Secretary of State Colin Powell rejected any move Arab nations might make for a U.N. cease-fire resolution.

Wednesday's meeting was called at the urging of an Arab foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo, Egypt.

Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri denounced the military strikes that hit civilian targets including homes, schools and mosques and led to "thousands of casualties, among whom are women, children and the elderly."

"This colonial Anglo-Saxon aggression is a naked defiance of the will of the international community and its organizations," al-Douri said. "The United Nations and this Security Council in particular are called upon to condemn this invasion and aggression. They're called upon to work to put an end to it immediately without conditions."

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Iraqi Ambassador to the UN Mohammed Aldouri delivers his speech to the Security Council (AFP/Henny Ray Abrams)