"This dangerous aggression is a dangerous escalation that threatens regional and international security and peace ... it could lead to a whirlwind of violence," the 22-member pan-Arab organisation said in a statement after an emergency delegates meeting at its Cairo headquarters on the crisis.

The statement urged the Security Council "to intervene immediately to prevent Israel from carrying on with its provocative policy towards Syria."

The meeting proclaimed Arab "support to Syria and to the measures it takes to face up to this aggression."

Arab League chief Amr Mussa had called for the meeting after consulting with Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara and other Arab foreign ministers about the raid.

Syria claimed the Israeli raid overnight had targetted a "civilian" area and called it a "serious escalation."

A Libyan delegate attended the meeting. Libya had been boycotting all Arab League meetings since early September, when the pan-Arab body granted Iraq's seat to the US-appointed Iraqi transitional leadership.

The UN Security Council was to hold a closed-door meeting Sunday following the raid, upon Syria's request.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan deplored the air strike.

He expressed concern that "this further escalation of an already tense and difficult situation has the potential to broaden the scope of current conflicts in the Middle East."

The Israeli military said its air force had hit a training camp used by the Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for Saturday's suicide bombing in the northern port city of Haifa which killed 19 people, in addition to the female bomber.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian foreign ministry said Cairo had expressed solidarity with Damascus and feared the raid would spread violence in the region.

"Israel is pursuing its policy of escalation" with the attack, the ministry said in a statement.

The raid "worsens the situation and threatens to broaden the scope of the violence and (trigger) mutual violence," it added.

"Egypt condemns this new attacks which is part of the provocative and aggressive Israeli policies, and it proclaims its solidarity with the Syrian people," it said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher meanwhile called his Syrian counterpart Shara to "assure him of Egypt's solidarity," the ministry statement added.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said at a press conference earlier that "we condemn the violence and we condemn the aggression that happened today against a brother country (Syria), under the pretext of the presence of (Palestinian) organizations."

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