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.