UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who was deeply saddened by the accident, said Saturday that the loss of the space shuttle is a loss to all humankind.

"Because the exploration of space knows no national boundaries, the loss of the Columbia is a loss to all humankind," Annan said in a statement released at the UN headquarters in New York.

"The Secretary-General was deeply saddened by the tragedy that struck the space shuttle Columbia and the seven astronauts on board. His thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who perished on this mission," it said.

The UN chief also extended his condolences to the government and people of the United States, as well as to the Governments and peoples of India and Israel, which also lost crew members in the tragedy.

In a message sent to US President George W. Bush on Sunday, Chinese President Jiang Zemin said the Chinese government and people deeply regrets over the disaster and the death of Columbia's crew.

Jiang, however, believed the mankind would continue and make further progress in space exploration despite the setback.

On the same day, the Chinese President also sent a message to Israeli President Moshe Katsav, expressing condolences over Israel's loss of its first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, 48, on board Columbia. 　　

On hearing the news, Russian President Vladimir Putin called his US counterpart George W. Bush, saying that US-Russian cooperation in space exploration made the accident even more tragic for Russians.

Putin also sent a telegram to Bush, praising the work of the crew members. "These brave people gave their lives ... in the name of peace, science and the progress of civilization. We will always remember them," the telegram said.

Putin asked Bush to convey his country's "sympathy and support “to the American people, "above all to the relatives and loved ones of those who perished."

Expressing "profound emotion" over the loss of Columbia, French President Jacques Chirac said France felt solidarity with Americans and Israelis over the disaster.

Chirac, in a letter to Bush, said the shuttle's loss was a "terrible tragedy," and he asked Bush to pass on his condolences to the victims' families.

"In the name of the French people, forever a friend to the American people, I express to you the profound emotion and feeling of solidarity in the ordeal that all my compatriots are feeling," Chirac said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Saturday night expressed his sorrow to the death of Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut aboard the space shuttle Columbia and to Ramon's father Eliezer Wolferman.

However, Sharon vowed on Sunday that Israel would send more astronauts into pace, despite the space shuttle disaster which killed the first Israeli in orbit.

"Other Israeli astronauts will be sent into orbit," said Sharonin a eulogy to Ilan Ramon and his six fellow crew members who were also killed in the accident.

"These seven astronauts paid the price for man's conquest of space ... and the world salutes these heroes," said Sharon, sending his condolences to the astronauts' families.

Recalling his chats with Ramon before his blast-off two weeks ago and during a satellite link-up last week, Sharon described the48-year-old former fighter pilot as "a man who did not deserve to be taken from us, along with our hopes, dreams, history and future, to a place beyond that which we could ever have imagined."

The prime minister said the deaths of the five men and two women in the accident were "not in vain," adding that future Israeli astronauts "will carry in their hearts the memory of Ilan Ramon, a pioneer in Israeli space travel."

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Aznar, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat also offered condolences over the accident and paid tribute to the seven victims.

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2003)