Congress president Sonia Gandhi said on Friday that the attack on Iraq was a violation of all international laws and conventions.

Addressing block Congress presidents at a convention in the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi, she said the issue should be taken back to the United Nations to evolve a peaceful solution acceptable to all parties.

She also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government for its failure to combat the menace of terrorism and provide security to the people.

She said the responsibility for national security lay with the central government and the continuation of cross-border terrorism shows that the promises of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf remain unfulfilled.

She said the nation is united in fighting terrorism, but "along with that we are opposed to those forces who, in the name of Pakistan, are set to divide the country on communal lines", her reference being to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and BJP.

Gandhi said the Congress had always opposed communalism and fundamentalism and never supported the philosophy of dividing the nation on religious lines.

Referring to the Ayodhya issue, she said the Congress is in favour of maintaining the status quo till the court decides the title suit.

She said the party is faced with a number of challenges and the convention will brief the block unit presidents on its political, economic, and social position so they can effectively counter the BJP on these fronts.

Accusing the Centre of slow progress on the economic front, she said the worst hit were farmers and landless labourers, who have been forced to commit suicide in several states.

She said the industries and factories that were put up in the public sector in backward areas to provide employment to millions of dalits and tribals were now being sold, including profit-making PSUs, at throwaway prices.

Accusing the government of being neck-deep in corruption, she said, "There are scams of very high magnitudes while they have not even shied away from siphoning off the hard-earned savings of the millions of people."

The Congress president said the country's political unity could be assured only by a resolute and purposeful government at the Centre that has a clear vision of the future.

On national security, she said her party never compromised on it. The Congress had fought against all kinds of terrorism and this was reflected in the sacrifice of leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. "We don't need certificates from anybody to prove our patriotic credentials," she said amid applause.

She said Congress governments in Punjab, Assam, Mizoram and Jammu and Kashmir had successfully fought terrorism and eased those states into the national mainstream.

With inputs from Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi