Iraq

A mounting casualty toll after the third day of western air strikes in Libya has done little to change attitudes in Iraq, which remains broadly supportive of the military campaign.

Iraq's politicians have either remained mute or cautiously supportive as the eight-year anniversary of the US invasion passes.

"I feel sorry for the Libyans," said Asmaa al-Mousawi, a member of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee. "I blame the Arab League and diplomats who kept quiet for so long that it became necessary for the international community to become involved."

He said the head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, had not explained his apparent about-face. "He said he is against the killing of civilians, but there are no military attacks without civilian sacrifice and we should accept that," al-Mousawi said.

The view from the street was similar. "I believe it is the right of the people to protest against tyrants," said Ahmed Ismail, 30, a shopkeeper. "It is a very good UN resolution. It tells all leaders to be fair with their people. The UN is legitimate and it is the right option to get rid of Muammar Gaddafi."

Bahrain

Bahrainis and their rulers are in rare accord – but for vastly different reasons – regarding action on Libya as civil woes continue in the tiny Gulf state.

The kingdom has not taken a public line on the military campaign as it battles to contain its own uprising, but has swung behind the Gulf Cooperation Council viewpoint, which has supported moves to protect Libyan civilians.

The country's opposition sees a precedent in Libya that they are demanding is repeated in their homeland. They claim the Bahrain regime does not protect their interests and has used lethal force to attack them during the last two months, in which an estimated 16 protesters have been killed. The government has said it has been trying to restore law and order and suppress a foreign-backed coup, led by Iran.

Reporting of the Libyan campaign in state media has been detached and factual.

Qatar

Qatar has taken the strongest line among Gulf states on the Libyan campaign, sending jets and other military support. That support does not appear to have troubled the country's citizens, who have also seen members of the small Qatari military being deployed to Bahrain to quell a popular uprising there.

"It is no secret that Qatar has a clear stance in condemning Gaddafi's acts of violence and murder, which have been perpetrated by the Gaddafi regime since the first moments of the Libyan revolution," said the al-Qana newspaper.

"What has happened there went from confrontation between unarmed people and police to war against the people, complete with the participation of mercenaries. We made a historic stand with Libya to urge the UN resolution."

Egypt

Egyptians continue to view the Libyan revolution through the mirror of their own experiences, in which Hosni Mubarak, an autocrat in place for more than three decades, was ousted by a relentless popular uprising. Support for the western military intervention seems close to overwhelming.

Egypt's military stayed neutral throughout the 18-day internal revolution and the scenes of Gaddafi's troops attacking civilian towns galvanised support among those who managed to topple a dictator through relatively peaceful means.

Gaddafi has had 10 more years in office than Mubarak achieved and has never enjoyed a warm relationship with his eastern neighbour, which views him as erratic and unpredictable.

A commentator in al-Destour newspaper, Hamza Moussa, said: "The UN resolution was a legal authority to stop his crimes against human rights. Gaddafi threatened his people and the west. He gives himself illusions of victory through all the false news on his TV channels and we should ban them."

UAE

The Gulf emirates are backing the western intervention and there has been little criticism of the venture in local press.

Abdul Rahman al-Atiyah, the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, speaking in Abu Dhabi confirmed the UAE was part of a coalition formed to deal with the threat from Gaddafi's troops to Libyan civilians, but would not confirm that meant it was taking part in military action.

Aal-Atiyah said the foreign role being played in Libya was not an occupation.

Abu Dhabi's English language newspaper, The National, said Arab unity was paramount. "More than ever, the Arab world needs to speak in a unified voice," it said. "Conflicting statements, and any subsequent hesitation with the mission, can only serve Gaddafi's regime.

"Gaddafi's opponents were victims of serious atrocities and faced potential annihilation. But it must be remembered that Tripoli and other pro-Gaddafi strongholds contain a large number of civilians who deserve the same protection as those among the opposition."

Syria

Syria's government, largely silent during the pro-democracy protests across the region, has been adamantly opposed to foreign intervention in Libya. Algeria and Syria were the only Arab countries to vote against the UN resolution to impose a no-fly zone – a move which led to rallies against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

The two countries have friendly relations but analysts say the government's view is based on self-interest. "It does not want to set a precedent of outside interference," said one analyst in Damascus who requested anonymity.

Syria's media has given extensive coverage to events in Libya, leading with the views and speeches of Gaddafi. As the Syria regime faces mounting pressure at home after four days of protests in the southern city of Daraa, both state broadcasters and the tightly controlled private-owned press have given prominence to Gaddafi's resistance to coalition air strikes.

But sympathy for the Libyan rebels and anger at Gaddafi is widespread on the streets of Damascus. "[The UN resoluion] has charged people up and made us think it's time for freedom," said the analyst. But Gaddafi's brutal response to the rebellion has also provoked fear, with many Syrians viewing his tactics as a taster of what could come if protests continue at home.

Some see the intervention in Libya as a sign that the international community will not allow a replay of the 1982 Hama massacre, in which up to 40,000 people were killed in the aftermath of a failed uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Others doubt the international community would have the appetite for intervention in Syria.

Such a split between the government's foreign policy and public opinion is rare. Previously Assad said Syria would not experience unrest because his foreign policy positions were in line with those of the population.

Iran

The Iranian regime has expressed suspicion over the military intervention in Libya despite supporting the revolt against Gaddafi.

The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, described the air strikes as a new form of colonialism but said Iran would support the legitimate demands of the anti-Gaddafi rebels.

Iran's Isna state news agency quoted Mehmanparast as saying: "[The countries involved in the coalition] enter usually with seductive slogans of supporting the people but they follow their own interests in ruling the countries and continuing colonialism in a new form."

Iran's state media has been relatively quiet about the intervention in Libya. "State-run news agencies, TV and radio channels in Iran have devoted significant coverage to what is happening in Libya but they have reduced their coverage since the air strikes," said an Iranian journalist based in Tehran who asked not to be named.

An Iranian student who did not wish to be named said: "I don't think people in Iran agree with the western governments on the air strike on the pro-Gaddafi forces, I think it reminds them of what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq where many innocent civilians were killed. Iranians are worried of a new Iraq in Libya."

"Iranians are now more sensitive to what's happening in Bahrain and Yemen, where Shia Muslims are directly involved in the conflicts against the ruling authorities, rather than Libya," the student said.

Iranian authorities have repeatedly spoken out against the violence used by Bahraini and Yemeni authorities in quelling pro-democracy protesters. Iran has also warned against the Saudi Arabian military presence in Bahrain.

Last week, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned against the enforcement of the no-fly zone but added that Iran condemned Gaddafi's bombardment of Libyan's people.

Speaking to a Spanish television TVE in Tehran, he said: "I think that military intervention would make things even worse. We have the experience of Iraq and Afghanistan. It made things worse, not better.

"The westerners have to cast aside their colonialist ambitions … I hope the European and US governments do not intervene in the affairs of this region and let the people of this region decide their future."