CANBERRA -- Australia's ailing opposition Labor Party was thrown into further disarray on Wednesday when former leader Kim Beazley signaled his readiness to return to the top job, angering embattled party chief Simon Crean.

Beazley stopped short of saying he wanted to lead the Center-Left Party again but neither did he appear to rule it out. He also attacked Prime Minister John Howard for unconditionally supporting the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

"If I was running a Labor Party campaign now, I'd run on the word respect," Beazley said in an interview with the ***Bulletin*** magazine, published on Wednesday.

"I guess there's no period of time when I've been so disappointed at not being prime minister as I have been in the past few months because I actually see Australia's interests as having been very badly damaged, Reuters reported. "Howard has made us less secure and much less respected."

His comments angered Crean, a former trade union leader who took over the party after Beazley lost a second election to Howard in November 2001.

Crean accused Beazley of destabilizing a party that is lagging the seven-year-old coalition government in polls with only 33 percent support versus 46 percent.

"I don't think he's shown respect ... when I was his deputy I was totally loyal and showed him respect when there were times when I disagreed with his judgment," said Crean.

"If he challenges, he won't win ... he ought to understand that continued destabilization is not going to hurt me so much as it's going to hurt the party," he told Melbourne Radio Station 3AW.

Crean has repeatedly said he will lead Center-Left Labor Party in the next election, expected in late 2004, but flagging support has fuelled speculation of a leadership challenge.

A newspoll survey last week found 62 percent of Australians believed Howard was the best leader for Australia while only 16 percent chose Crean -- and only one in 10 Australians wanted him as Labor leader against 36 percent support for Beazley.

Political analysts say the lack of a viable alternative -- apart from twice-thrashed Beazley -- has kept Crean safe for now.

In the ***Bulletin*** interview, Beazley, a military history buff and foreign policy expert, warned Labor against a "moronic" policy of opposing Australia's alliance with the United States, its key security partner and second largest trading partner.

Nevertheless, he criticized Howard for unconditionally supporting the U.S. war in Iraq and sending Australian troops there.