US urged to cool rising tensions

EU FOREIGN policy chief Javier Solana urged Washington yesterday to tone down its statements on Syria, saying it was time to “cool down” rising tensions in the Middle East.

“The region is going through a very difficult process and I think it would be better to make constructive statements to see if we can cool down the situation,” Mr Solana said before attending an EU foreign ministers meeting on how the bloc could help postwar Iraq.

At the meeting, it was decided the EU should draw up a list of countries with weapons of mass destruction and assess the global threat. However, there was no progress on deciding what role the UN should have in post-war Iraq. The ministers agreed to leave the matter until government leaders hear from UN secretary general Kofi Annan later this week.

The US insists that while there will be a role for the UN in the future Iraq, they and the British will take the lead. Most of the EU states want the UN to take the lead role.

Mr Annan has cancelled a number of meetings with heads of government and will instead attend the EU meeting in Athens on Thursday.

“They will hope to hear what he believes the UN role should be and they wish to discuss the matter fully with him before taking a position on it,” a diplomat said following yesterday’s meeting.

The EU - riven by disagreements on foreign policy - is hoping to reach agreement on the issue of weapons of mass destruction as a step towards building a common foreign policy.