-Caveat Lector- http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,918935,00.html Anglo-French rancour poisons mood of EU dinner
British fury as Chirac vetoes reference to resolution 1441 Ian Black in Brussels Friday March 21, 2003 The Guardian Britain and France clashed furiously again at last night's EU summit in Brussels as the outbreak of war in Iraq underscored Europe's deep and bitter divisions over the crisis. Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac studiously avoided each other and the French president vetoed a reference in a summit statement to UN resolution 1441, the centrepiece of the US and British case for action against Saddam Hussein. Mr Blair, looking haggard, said nothing as he arrived at the heavily guarded council of ministers building after Mr Chirac had earlier condemned the start of fighting and the absence of a UN mandate. The British and French leaders and the EU's 13 other heads of government held a working dinner before today's pre-arranged economic summit, inevitably dominated by the Gulf conflict and the worst internal rift the union has ever seen. The prime minister and president were seated diagonally opposite each other over tuna carpaccio and roast lamb. But their body language was hostile. As talks began, Mr Blair chatted amicably with Jose Maria Aznar, the Spanish prime minister, George Bush's other loyal European ally. President Chirac huddled with Gerhard Schröder, the German chancellor and fellow leader of the anti-war camp, but kept his distance from Mr Blair. Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, shook the French president's hand and won a curt nod in response. Talks on Iraq were described as strained and "niggling". Belgium's prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt, said: "There were a great many interruptions in a very short time." Costas Simitis, the Greek prime minister and the summit host, said: "The disagreements which undoubtedly exist _ could not be eliminated today." British officials attacked Mr Chirac for vetoing a paragraph of the summit statement regretting that Iraq had not "taken the opportunity" offered by resolution 1441. "You are always surprised when people don't want a reference to an unanimous decision of the UN," said a Downing Street spokesman. But the president's position was hardly surprising since the deleted formulation clearly implied Baghdad was to blame for the end of UN weapons inspections and the start of military action. Calling the start of hostilities a "grim moment for the world", Romano Prodi, the president of the European commission, urged EU leaders to close ranks. "Today all we can do is unite in the hope that the war will be brief and will not cause too many casualties and that there will be as little turmoil as possible," he said. Downing Street said Mr Blair acknowledged the differences between London and Paris but now wanted to focus on aid to Iraq once Saddam Hussein had been overthrown. "No one on either side is expecting the other to change their mind," the prime minister's spokesman said. "We are not here to refight the battles of the past few weeks. We want a good discussion which results in practical outcomes so the EU can engage on humanitarian issues." Chris Patten, the EU's external relations commissioner, told the European parliament he hoped it would be possible to deliver aid quickly, though he has warned that that might be difficult in the absence of a clear UN mandate. Mr Patten also called for attempts to heal the deep rift between Washington and Europe over Iraq. "This has been a very bad passage for transatlantic relations," he said. British officials hailed a reference in the summit statement to the transatlantic partnership as a "funda- mental strategic priority for the EU". The outbreak of war means little attention will be paid to slow-moving plans to improve Europe's sluggish economic growth, but optimists argue it may help galvanise plans to streamline foreign policy. "Europe can make an effective contribution to peace in the world only if its nations pull together," Mr Prodi said. "It is not in our interest to continue relying on others when it comes to defending our values militarily." · Britain released figures yesterday showing that Paris had exported goods worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Iraq, prompting a government to allege that France was "stretching" the rules of UN sanctions. In a parliamentary written answer, Patricia Hewitt, the trade and industry secretary, claimed that in the first six months of last year France exported goods worth $212.5m (£135m) to Iraq. Germany exported goods worth $203.8m. In the same period Britain exported goods worth $27.8m. 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