BERLIN, Sept 20: Britain, France and Germany joined forces on Saturday to call for a transfer of power in Iraq “as quickly as possible” and a central role for the United Nations, while failing to hide their differences.

At summit talks in Berlin, leaders of the three major European powers said they broadly agreed on the need for a rapid transition.

“We all want to see a stable and democratic Iraq and that the transition to democracy occurs as quickly as possible,” Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair said.

“Whatever the positions in the conflict, the entire world has an interest in seeing these things happen. Whatever the differences there are, they can be resolved and I am sure they will be.”

He said the fact that discussions were taking place at the United Nations on a possible resolution for post-war Iraq “indicates the agreement on the key role that the UN should have.”

“It is in everyone’s interest that we reach agreement and I believe that we will.”

But German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac acknowledged that while they agreed on the broad outlines, there were still differences.

Schroeder, for his part, acknowledged there was a “need for discussion” on the transfer.

Schroeder said there was a “need for discussions,” and Chirac said the concerns of London, Paris and Berlin “were not yet completely convergent.”

The French president insisted they did not agree “on the modalities (of a transition) and the calendar.”

Saturday’s two-hour tri-lateral talks were designed to heal Europe’s bitter diplomatic wounds over the US-led Iraq war, which was supported by Britain but fiercely opposed by France and Germany.—AFP