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9/11: The world reacts

World leaders almost uniformly offered their support to the US following the attacks, with Iraq the notable exception.

Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef
Abdul Salam Zaeef (pictured), the Taliban(***)s ambassador to Pakistan, said: "We want to tell the American children that Afghanistan feels your pain and we hope that the courts find justice." Wakeel Ahmed Mutawakel, the Afghan foreign minister, told Al Jazeera that his government "denounce[d] this terrorist attack, whoever is behind it" [GALLO/GETTY]
Published On 5 Sep 2011
Pervez Musharraf
"The world must unite to fight against terrorism in all its forms and root out this modern day evil," said then Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf later revealed that he had been told by the US that "you are either with us or against us". The US defence secretary then issued an even sterner warning, saying that if Pakistan did not cooperate, it would be "bombed back to the Stone Age" [GALLO/GETTY]
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Kofi Annan
"We are all traumatised by this terrible tragedy," said Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general. Diplomats at the UN called for swift action by the security council to impose sanctions on any groups or governments found responsible or complicit in the attacks. The next day, the security council adopted resolution 1368, condemning the attacks and recognising the right of individual or collective self-defence [GALLO/GETTY]
Tony Blair and George Bush
Tony Blair, the British prime minister, said that the UK would stand "shoulder to shoulder" to with the United States. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Britain stood "shoulder to shoulder" with Washington: "This mass terrorism is the new evil in our world today. It is perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of life," he said [GALLO/GETTY]
Vladimir Putin and George W Bush
Vladimir Putin (right), the Russian president, advocated a tough response to the "barbaric acts". In a telegram to President George W Bush (left), he said: "Such an inhuman act must not go unpunished. The entire international community should unite in the struggle against terrorism" [GALLO/GETTY]
Gerhard Schroeder
Gerhard Schroeder, the German chancellor, described the attacks as "a declaration of war against the civilised world" [GALLO/GETTY]
Jacques Chirac
"France has always condemned terrorism, condemns it without reserve and thinks we must fight terrorism by all means," said Jacques Chirac, the French president. In a speech on French television he asserted: "No country in the world has been the target of terrorist attacks of such magnitude or of such violence. I want to reiterate to the American people the solidarity of all the French in this tragic ordeal" [GALLO/GETTY]
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Silvio Berlusconi
"I am shocked at the terrifying, insane terrorist attack which has hit the people of a friendly nation as well as the conscience of the entire world," said Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister [GALLO/GETTY]
Saddam Hussein
Iraq, under then President Saddam Hussein, said that the US deserved the attacks, with an official government statement reading: "The American cowboys are reaping the fruit of their crimes against humanity." The official al-Iraq newspaper said the attacks were "a lesson for all tyrants, oppressors and criminals" [GALLO/GETTY]
Hosni Mubarak with George W Bush
"We shouldn(***)t jump to conclusions. My advice to the US is not to attack a country because of some small organisation. You have to find out who did it, but not punish innocent people," advised Hosni Mubarak (left), the Egyptian president [GALLO/GETTY]
Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin, the Chinese president, said that he was "shocked" by the attacks, and sent his condolences to George W Bush, the US president. The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement saying that it "opposed all manner" of terrorism [GALLO/GETTY]
Junichiro Koizumi
Junichiro Koizumi (centre), the Japanese Prime Minister, expressed "great anger" at the attacks, adding "these acts of terrorism should not be forgiven". He toured the site of the World Trade Centre attacks during a state visit on September 24, 2001, in New York City [GALLO/GETTY]
Fidel Castro and Raul Castro
The Cuban government, under then President Fidel Castro (left), expressed its "pain" and "solidarity" with the United States, and offered air and medical facilities to help with the immediate response. Cuban state television interrupted normal programming to announce the "national tragedy" in the US, broadcasting CNN(***)s Spanish language service live [GALLO/GETTY]
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, described the attacks as "horrifying", and urged Muslim aid groups to join international assistance efforts to the US, "regardless of political considerations or differences between America and the peoples of the world" [GALLO/GETTY]
Ariel Sharon
"The fight against terrorism is an international struggle of the free world against the forces of darkness," said Ariel Sharon (pictured), the Israeli prime minister. Ehud Barak, the Labor Party leader, said that it was "time for action and not just tough talk [...] I believe the [US] president should and will lead whole world, the UK, Europeans, Russia, Israel, [...] should focus effort putting an end to it" [GALLO/GETTY]
Yasser Arafat
"It(***)s unbelievable. We completely condemn this very dangerous attack, and I convey my condolences to the American people, to the American president and to the American administration, not only in my name but on behalf of the Palestinian people," said Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian Authority leader. He is pictured here donating blood in a Gaza hospital for the victims of the attacks [GALLO/GETTY]
Mohammad Khatami
Mohammad Khatami, the Iranian president, said that he felt "deep regret and sympathy with the victims". In the days following the attacks, several solemn memorial services were held in Iran [GALLO/GETTY]
King Fahd
"The kingdom of Saudi Arabia will stand by the US and support it and cooperate with it in combating terrorism wherever it is and fight it in all its forms," said King Fahd Ibn Abdul Azizi of Saudi Arabia [EPA]
King Abdullah of Jordan with George W Bush
King Abdullah of Jordan (left) told CNN that the celebrations seen in the West Bank following the attacks isolated events, and that "we were just as shocked as you are [...] It(***)s a small group of people; it(***)s no way a reflection of the Palestinian people or other peoples of the Middle East," he said, adding that Jordanians shared the shock and sorrow of the American people [GALLO/GETTY]