February 4, 2003	Tuesday	Zul Hijjah 2,1423

BRUSSELS, Feb 3: The EU’s disarray over Iraq deepened still further on Monday, as pro-US countries accused of dividing the bloc counter-attacked against the dominance of heavyweights France and Germany.

The widening split came even as officials reiterated that the 15-member bloc could hold an emergency summit over the crisis.

But the stark splits within Europe grew wider, as shockwaves continued to reverberate from an open letter by eight states backing Washington’s hardline stance against Saddam Hussein.

“What we are going through at the moment is a lesson for Europe,” said former Italian prime minister Giuliano Amato, a vice-president of the convention seeking to shape the EU’s future.

“And I have to say: Germany and France were originally responsible for it,” he said. “Berlin and Paris forgot to seek support for their position in the European Union,” Amato told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

The European Union has long been deeply divided over the threat of war against Iraq, with Britain leading the pro-US camp and Germany heading up EU countries opposed to war.

But the splits were blown wide open last week by a letter signed by eight European government heads throwing their weight behind the hawkish US line on disarming Iraq.

Spain, another signatory of the letter sent to 12 European newspapers, also jibed at France and Germany Monday, saying they could act as if other countries didn’t matter.

Berlin and Paris must “make real non-judgmental proposals for integration, which do not ignore the role which Europe and the United States must play together on the world stage in the 21st century,” said Foreign Minister Ana Palacio.

Portugal also again spoke out against the Franco-German alliance.

“They will have to get used to the fact that in a 25-member EU, other geometrical variations (than the Franco-German axis) are possible, said Foreign Minister Antonio Martins da Cruz.

European Commission President Romano Prodi called on EU members to find a “common European voice” on foreign policy.

“Once Europe has a common voice, it will be the only one that has to be listened to in the world,” he said during a brief visit to the northeastern Spanish city of Barcelona.

Meanwhile the European Commission confirmed that the Greek EU presidency had sounded out EU capitals about the possibility of a summit.

“The (Greek) presidency is putting out feelers about how any such a special summit would go down. The meeting however has not yet been confirmed,” said commission spokesman Jonathan Faull.

But any decision on such a summit will not be taken before a potentially-crucial presentation by US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, diplomats say.

At the weekend Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, said the EU needed a “clearer picture” of what measures to take.

“We do not exclude an EU summit or a meeting of foreign ministers to achieve a peaceful solution to the crisis or to prepare for eventual conflict,” he said Saturday.

On Monday Papandreou abruptly cut short a regional tour in the Middle East, to return to Athens before flying to New York to attend Wednesday’s crucial UN Security Council meeting.

French President Jacques Chirac, whose country has a veto on the UN Security Council, is expected to come under pressure from Britain’s Tony Blair at a Franco-British summit on Tuesday.

The British press, fresh from accompanying Blair to what was dubbed a council of war with US President George W. Bush at Camp David, is confident that the French leader will be convinced.

“Chirac will change line on Iraq,” the left-leaning Guardian reported, citing several factors that would make the French president move over to London’s way of thinking.—AFP