London - More than six million protesters took to the streets around the globe on Saturday to send a passionate message to US President George Bush not to invade Iraq and to give peace a chance.
The much-awaited UN weapons inspectors' report on Iraq on Friday highlighted the divisions between major powers on whether and when to launch a war against Baghdad over its suspected banned weapons.
Here is a summary of the main positions on the possibility of military conflict with Iraq:
Who says 'yes' to the war?
Australia:
Australia is one of Washington's staunchest allies and has deployed around 2 000 troops to the Middle East.
Prime Minister Howard said he was not convinced that large crowds at anti-war rallies in the country's major cities were evidence that public opinion was against war.
Britain:
Prime Minister Tony Blair, facing huge public opposition to his campaign for military action, tried to make a moral case by referring to Iraqi suffering under Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
London and Washington have stood shoulder-to-shoulder since the September 11 attacks and Blair has reserved the right to follow the United States into war without a fresh resolution, fearing some UN Security Council members would block it.
Israel:
Israel has said it would abstain from taking part in any US coalition out of recognition of the "sensitivities" in the region, but reserves the right to respond if attacked.
Italy:
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right government has been a staunch Bush supporter and has backed his tough stance on Iraq. Italy has said to the United States that transport planes bound for the Gulf can use military bases for stopovers and refuelling.
Japan:
Although Japan's pacifist constitution bars it from taking an active part in any military action outside its borders, it is expected to find ways to back its most important ally, the United States, in the event of an attack.
Kuwait:
Freed from Iraqi occupation by a US-led coalition in the 1991 Gulf War, Kuwait has offered all possible help. Kuwait is likely to be a launchpad for a US invasion of Iraq.
Portugal:
Portugal and seven other European nations signed a joint letter expressing support for US policy towards Iraq. The letter deepened a split within the 15-nation European Union over whether to back the US position on attacking Iraq.
Portugal has also made an air base in the mid-Atlantic Azores islands available to US military aircraft.
Qatar:
The Gulf state is home to a mobile command post staffed by more than 1 000 US communications personnel and several hundred British counterparts, which is likely to be the command and control centre in the event of an attack on Iraq.
Romania:
Romania's parliament approved sending 278 troops, chiefly anti-chemical and anti-biological warfare units to the Gulf following a formal request from Washington and has offered its airbases and the Black Sea port of Constanta for the refuelling of warplanes.
Other east European states such as Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic have already committed various military assets.
Spain:
Spain has emerged as one of Europe's most vocal US supporters and has said it was working with Bush to muster support for a resolution authorising the use of military force.
It would allow the United States to use its bases to support a possible military strike on Iraq.
Who is still undecided?
Canada:
Canada said time was running out for Iraq to show it was in full compliance with Security Council resolution 1441. However, Foreign Minister Bill Graham also said that no decision on the use of force had been taken by the government and it was seen as a very last resort.
Nato:
Nato remains divided over whether to start planning indirect military support for a possible US-led war on Iraq.
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Arabia is trying to avert an attack on its Arab neighbour and has floated the idea of trying to encourage a coup against Saddam by his subordinates.
Arab states fear a war that would topple Saddam would fragment Iraq into rival Sunni Muslim, Shi'ite Muslim and Kurdish enclaves and heighten instability in the Middle East.
But Riyadh is unlikely to prevent the United States using bases in the kingdom should the United States opt for war.
Turkey:
A compromise to end a Nato crisis on protective measures for Turkey in case of a US-led war on Iraq is likely to be agreed in the coming days.
Turkey is allowing the US military to modernise some bases for possible use in a war, but has not yet given Washington permission to use them for an offensive.
Though set to support an Iraq war, Turkey fears conflict across its borders could spark unrest among its Kurdish minority amid the return of hundreds of armed KADEK guerrillas presently holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq.
Who says 'no' to the war?
China:
China, which has veto power at the UN Security Council, signalled that its desire for the United Nations to work out a diplomatic solution to the issue was undiminished.
France and Germany:
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, who has refused to rule out using France's veto in the Security Council to brake what Paris sees as a US rush to war, said that Paris opposed having a new resolution as long as arms inspections were continuing.
At the United Nations, France defended the continuation of efforts to disarm Iraq through inspections following the report by chief arms inspector Hans Blix.
German Chancellor Schroeder insisted that Iraq could be disarmed without a war and that UN weapons inspectors should be given all the time and support they need.
However he has also guaranteed flyover and transit rights for US forces in the event of military action.
Russia:
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said the inspections were proceeding smoothly and it was not yet time to consider the use of force against Baghdad.
Russia, also a veto-wielding Security Council member which has deep economic interests in Iraq, has striven to avert unilateral US action against Baghdad.
Syria:
Syria said inspections were making substantial progress and war against Iraq would lead to "total anarchy".
Syria is a staunch opponent of US military action against Iraq, although it voted for UN Security Council resolution 1441 which told Iraq to disarm or face "serious consequences".