LUXEMBOURG, April 14: The European Union urged the United States on Monday to “cool down” its growing pressure on Syria, as the diplomatically divided bloc sought common ground on a role in Iraq.

EU foreign ministers, meeting for the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, warned against further complications in securing peace in the region as the dust begins to settle from the conflict.

“Everybody said that we should try to seek to calm things down and not add more complications,” said a senior EU official, after the 15 ministers — minus Britain’s Jack Straw — met in Luxembourg.

Mr Straw, whose country led the pro-US camp in the EU before the war, fuelling an unprecedented split in the 15-member bloc, also accused Syria of having cooperated with Iraq in recent months.

“There has been much evidence of considerable cooperation between the Syrian government and the Saddam regime in recent months,” he said in Kuwait, on a six-nation tour of the region.

In Luxembourg, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana declined to mention the United States by name, but made his message clear that Washington should not inflame an already “convulsed” region.

“The region is going through a very difficult process and I think it will be better to make a constructive statement to see if we can cool off and cool down the situation,” he said.

He was speaking after US President George W. Bush said Sunday that Syria has chemical weapons, and warned Damascus anew that it must “cooperate” with Washington.

“The Syrian government needs to cooperate with the United States and our coalition partners. It must not harbour any Baathists, any military officials who need to be held to account for their tenure” in Iraq, Bush told journalists on the White House lawn.

France and Germany, which led the anti-war camp in Europe, also warned against confrontation with Syria. “We should concentrate to win the peace and not to come into another confrontation,” said German’s Joschka Fischer.

“In the current regional context, restraint and moderation... are clearly necessary,” added French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.

The Luxembourg talks come at the start of a week that will see the 10 European Union candidate states sign their accession treaties in Athens, in a move the bloc hopes will underline that life goes on despite the Iraqwar.

The 15 current European Union leaders including British Prime Minister Tony Blair will meet informally on the margins of Wednesday’s signing ceremony, hoping to put behind them the rows that dominated the build-up to the war against Saddam.

Both Blair and his opponents in the EU “peace camp”, led by France and Germany, have demanded a pivotal role for the United Nations in Iraq’s reconstruction. UN chief Kofi Annan will be in Athens for the EU ceremony.

For now, diplomats said, the Luxembourg meeting will confine itself to discussing how the EU can help in getting aid to the Iraqi people.

The European Commission — the EU’s executive arm — has begun to channel 21 million euros in humanitarian relief money and is pressing the member states to release another 79 million.

“The first priority for the moment is humanitarian aid: how to mobilise to deliver aid in the most efficient and fastest way possible for the Iraqi people,” said one EU diplomat.

The commission also reiterated an implicit warning that it will be more difficult for Iraq’s reconstruction if the UN is not heavily involved.

“Experience shows that the UN can provide legitimacy in post-conflict situations,” said one official, adding that: “It will be easier to mobilize financial resources if that legitimacy has been secured.”—AFP

RUSSIA ADVISES RESTRAINT: A top Russian foreign ministry official urged the United States on Monday to exercise more restraint towards Syria.