COPENHAGEN, Sept 24: The European Union governments faced further splits over the US policy towards Iraq on Tuesday as British Prime Minister Tony Blair made a case for Washington’s policy of military action against Baghdad but French President Jacques Chirac insisted that war was not inevitable.

“I do not think at all that war (against Iraq) is unavoidable...it is always the worst solution,” the French leader warned at an Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Copenhagen.

“Let us give peace a chance,” Chirac insisted.

The French leader also flayed America’s new policy of pre-emptive strikes against nations accused of threatening world peace and said only United Nations inspections could establish if Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Chirac’s comments came as British Prime Minister Tony Blair unveiled a long-promised British dossier on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction in London. But other EU governments appear unimpressed.

Germany has already said it will not participate in a war on Iraq. Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has tried to muster EU support for US policy towards Iraq but with little success.

US plans for military strikes against Iraq dominated Asia-Europe political discussions, with leaders agreeing that Washington must pursue the UN track.

“The fight against terrorism must be based on the leading role of the UN and the principles of the UN charter,” said a statement adopted by the 25-nation ASEM.

Adding his voice to calls for US caution, Malaysian Prime Minister Mohamad Mahathir urged the US and Britain to “listen to the rest of the world.”