EU shifts position on US role in Iraq

THERE was growing agreement among EU members yesterday not to challenge the US taking the lead on the re-construction of Iraq.

UN Secretary of State Kofi Annan did not look for any immediate role in Iraq during his meetings with European leaders at a two-day summit in Athens.

Instead his emphasis was on ensuring the UN survived by uniting Europe behind it. "No issue has so divided the world since the end of the cold war," he told them.