Indonesia's vice president Hamzah Haz has lashed out at the US-led war against Iraq, calling President George W Bush the "king of terrorists".

Mr Haz says the United States has always boasted about upholding human rights and democracy, yet it invades Iraq without United Nations approval.

The vice president is the only senior Indonesian official to personally condemn President Bush, although the government has strongly criticised the war as an act of illegal aggression.

Mr Haz himself came in for criticism last May for meeting with Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiah regional terror group. Bashir was detained last October and is expected to face trial for attempting to overthrow the government.

Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, has seen daily protests since the war began.