Response Splits Along Lines Drawn at Beginning of War : Reaction: Some in coalition predict quick victory; non-member nations regret action. Pope again calls for peace and reconciliation.

From the world’s capitals and chancelleries Sunday, responses to the swiftness and apparent early success of the Persian Gulf ground war cleaved much along the lines they have since the outset of Operation Desert Storm.

Some nations with their own forces in the Gulf called the escalation necessary and predicted that it would end with quick victory.

Countries that have stood outside the conflict, notably China, marked the escalation with “deep regret,” and Pope John Paul II, whose church backed recent Soviet peace proposals, told 20,000 people in sunny St. Peter’s Square that war is “the seed of death.”

Britain

In Britain, Prime Minister John Major, terming Iraq’s reported roundup of Kuwaitis and scorched-earth burning of oil wells acts of “pure destruction and spite,” said “there was no reason or time to delay” the invasion.

“There is no doubt in my mind it is an absolutely justifiable conflict and we will win it,” Major told reporters at his official country residence, Chequers. But he assured the families of soldiers in the Gulf, “It will not, I think be a long campaign, but it may be a fierce one.”

Queen Elizabeth II, in the first wartime broadcast of her 39-year-reign and the second message to troops within 24 hours, said Britons are “rightly proud of our armed forces” and called on her subjects to “unite in praying their success will be as swift as it is certain.”

About 400 Muslims marched through London carrying placards praising Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and chanting slogans against the U.S.-led allies in the Gulf.

Germany

In Germany, a nation rattled by conflicting anti-war demonstrations and guilt over German firms having sold Iraq components for its chemical weapons, Chancellor Helmut Kohl--himself initially criticized for showing lukewarm support for the U.S.-led coalition--issued one of Germany’s most unequivocal declarations of support, blaming Iraqi leadership “exclusively” for the failure to avoid a land war.

In a statement issued by the Federal Press Office, Kohl said, “The German government stands unwaveringly on the side of its allies and partners, who are fighting for justice and the liberation of Kuwait.

“We as Germans, who endured the terrible experience of the Second World War, empathize deeply with the soldiers and their families as well as those civilians who are affected by the suffering of war,” Kohl added.

In a phone call shortly before the offensive began, Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher reportedly told his American counterpart, Secretary of State James A. Baker III: “Jim, we are with you. America should know that in Germany and in Europe, it has only friends.”

On television Sunday evening, a clearly subdued Genscher repeated his support for the coalition. “The world community had no other way to enforce the United Nations Security Council resolutions,” he said. “Saddam Hussein wanted this war.”

Germany is the only major European member of the Western alliance that has no significant military role in the coalition. Although the country’s constitution blocks the deployment of its military forces outside the alliance region, many nations involved in the fighting--especially the United States and Britain--complained bitterly in private at Germany’s foot-dragging moral support.

Like Japan, Germany has contributed mainly money, although it sent 18 defensive aircraft to NATO partner Turkey in case that nation is attacked by Iraq, and also provided Patriot missiles to Israel after the first Iraqi Scud attacks on Tel Aviv.

Turkey

A sense of quiet satisfaction was the common thread of official statements from Turkey, Iraq’s Muslim neighbor and regional rival.

Leaders from President Turgut Ozal down echoed that “the rulers of Iraq are responsible for what has happened,” and Ankara kept out feelers for a postwar role in line with Ozal’s ambitions to make Muslim Turkey a regional superpower.

“As a result of my talks, I think the United States will definitely ask Turkey to be part of (postwar) security arrangements,” newspapers quoted Foreign Minister Ahmet Kurtcebe Alptemocin as saying in Washington after talks with President Bush. “Turkey is ready to fulfill any duty.”

Ozal has been foursquare behind the United States since the beginning of the crisis, immediately cutting a vital Iraqi oil export pipeline and granting the continuing use of Turkish bases for U.S. air strikes against Iraq.

France

In France, whose renown Foreign Legion is fighting alongside American and other allied troops in the Gulf, a public opinion poll reported that three citizens out of four support the launching of the ground offensive.

President Francois Mitterrand said the results reiterated a longtime French government position that after the war, France will press for resolution of all Middle East conflicts, including the Israeli-Palestinian issue and the problems in Lebanon.

There must be equity, Mitterrand said, and it would be unfair for Iraq to be singled out for harsh treatment--an apparent reference to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.

China

A Foreign Ministry spokesman Sunday expressed the Chinese government’s “deep regret” for the escalation of the Gulf War, the official New China News Agency reported.

“While hopes for a peaceful settlement of the Gulf conflict were recently raised, the war that the world’s people (were) loath to see has nevertheless escalated,” the spokesman said, according to the news agency.

Some of China’s population has been fascinated by the war, and the government has consistently condemned Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. It abstained, however, on the U.N. resolution that authorized the use of force. Since the air war began last month, Beijing has repeatedly called for a political settlement of the conflict.

“Since the outbreak of the Gulf crisis, we have painfully witnessed a heavy toll of human lives, including that of many innocent civilians, and the destruction of enormous wealth,” the spokesman said Sunday. “The Chinese government strongly appeals to the warring parties to take an approach of restraint so as to prevent greater and irretrievable losses.”

The spokesman said China hopes that all parties will continue efforts to find “a practicable solution” so as to “achieve at an early date a peaceful resolution of the Gulf crisis,” the official news agency reported.

Japan

In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu declared his support for the ground war soon after it started. Kaifu told reporters that he deplored Iraq’s “stubborn attitude” and said it was a “terrible shame” that the allies had to resort to the action.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Taizo Watanabe issued a statement expressing the hope that hostilities will end soon and that casualties will be minimal.

“Despite the urging of many countries, including Japan, the government of Iraq did not respond by withdrawing its forces from Kuwait,” the statement said, “and the military activities of the multinational forces, which have been enforced in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions, have entered a new stage. . . .”

The Vatican

At the Vatican, the war’s events brought a larger crowd than usual to St. Peter’s Square, where a white-robed Pope, with pain in his voice, denounced war as “the seed of death.”

John Paul II’s midday Angelus prayer became an occasion for the 41st papal appeal for peace and reconciliation since the Gulf crisis began. “Never as in these hours has war appeared like the seed of death. Never as in these days has man been called on to make reason prevail over passions,” the Pope told a silent crowd of 20,000 pilgrims savoring springlike weather in the sun-drenched square.

“Never as today are the leaders of nations, servants of the common good, questioned by their own consciences,” said John Paul.

Security was tight for the Pope’s traditional Sunday blessing from his library window, and people were searched as they entered the square. Some had brought political as well as religious convictions on a Sunday of war. “Stop the murder of human beings,” said one banner. “We want peace,” read another.

The repeated papal appeals had no impact in encouraging world leaders to let reason “prevail over passions,” as the Pope termed it.

In the days before the ground offensive began, the Vatican voiced its support for the Soviet peace initiative. The Vatican, said the Pope, “has done as much as possible to avert this terrible war. Now all that is left for us to do is work and pray for (the war) to end as quickly as possible and that similar painful tragedies disappear from humanity’s horizon.”

Italy

Word that the ground offensive was beginning came to Italy in a midnight phone call from Secretary of State Baker to Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti.

A squadron of Italian Tornado fighter-bombers and a handful of warships in the Gulf supported the invasion, but Italy has no ground troops in the Gulf.

Andreotti conferred with defense officials and President Francesco Cossiga at midday Sunday, but his government had no official response to the assault.

Staff writers William Tuohy in London, Tyler Marshall in Berlin, Rone Tempest in Paris, David Holley in Beijing, Karl Schoenberger in Tokyo, William D. Montalbano in Rome, and free-lance writer Hugh Pope in Istanbul contributed to this story.

REACTION AROUND THE WORLD Decision makers around the world reacted to the collapse of peace efforts and start of the ground war.1 Britain: “I’m absolutely convinced that there is no choice,” Prime Minister John Major 2 Germany: Chancellor Helmut Kohl said Saddam Hussein showed his “true face” when he began a “scorched-earth” policy against Kuwait and the world could no longer tolerate the Iraqi leader playing for time. 3 Soviet Union: Foreign Ministry spokesman Vitaly I Churkin denounced the ground action, saying that “the instinct to rely on a military solution prevailed...despite Iraq’s agreement to withdraw its forces from Kuwait.” 4 Israel: Foreign Minister David Levy said he told U.S. Secretary of State James A Baker III by telephone, “We are with you and wish you success.” 5 Syria: Damascas Radio broadcast a commentary holding Saddam responsible for the bloodshed. “All appeals and calls to avert the spilling of blood and save Iraq’s resources have fallen as hell opened loose. That was the wish of the Iraqi ruler,” the commentary said. 6 Jordan: Prime Minister Mudar Badran says the Palestinian issue must be solved after the Gulf crisis of the Middle East will face war again within 10 years. “The Palestinian question remains as explosive powder keg.” 7 Kuwait: The government-in-exile’s ambassador in London, Ghazi Rayes, told the allies, “Thank you for liberating my country. We know your are fighting for a good cause.” 8 Iran: President Hashemi Rafsanjani pledged to continue his country’s peace efforts “as long as there exists a ray of hope.” He criticized Iraq, saying if Saddam Hussein’s forces and moved to pull out of Kuwait earlier, “the situation would be different now.” 9 India: The government said it regretted the outbreak of the ground war, the failure of the Soviet peace proposals and the U.N. Security Council “lying paralyzed.” 10 China: The Foreign Ministry voiced what it called “deep regret” over the escalation of the Persian Gulf War and urged both sides to exercise “restraint so as to prevent greater and irretrievable losses.”