ATHENS, April 17: European Union leaders on Thursday called for a leading United Nations role in post-war Iraq but in a concession to the United States also said coalition forces had a responsibility to ensure security for a transitional period.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who attended part of the EU summit in Athens, echoed the EU appeal by urging US troops to urgently ensure law and order and the distribution of relief supplies.

“Our first concern must be the well-being of the Iraqi people...their most immediate needs now are for public order and safety, and for humanitarian relief,” Mr Annan said.

The UN chief said it was “imperative” that the coalition, “as the occupying power,” gave top priority to fulfilling its security obligations.

Mr Annan acknowledged that “no issue has so divided the world since the end of the cold war”, but said governments must now heal their divisions over Iraq.

Future policy on Iraq could be guided by basic principles, including safeguarding the country’s sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity, he said.

The EU statement underlined that the UN must play “a central role, including in the process leading towards self-government for the Iraqi people. The world body had the “unique capacity and experience” in post-conflict situations.

But bowing to realities on the ground, EU leaders acknowledged that “at this stage the coalition has the responsibility to ensure a secure environment including for the provision of humanitarian assistance and protection of the cultural heritage and museums.”

The EU stance runs counter to America’s reluctance to let the UN take a leading role in post-war Iraq.

Discussions on Iraq at the EU summit came before the bloc’s leaders met their counterparts from European countries outside the bloc as part of what diplomats say is the EU’s “good neighbour” policy.

The EU sought to reassure a range of countries including Russia, Ukraine, Switzerland and Serbia that those left out of the Wednesday’s landmark agreement to take in 10 new member states in 2004 would not provoke a new rich-poor division of Europe.