arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

In talks with Powell, EU will insist on "central" role for U.N. in postwar Iraq
Tue Apr 1,12:32 PM ET
By ROBERT WIELAARD, Associated Press Writer
BRUSSELS, Belgium - European Union (news - web sites) officials plan to tell U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) when they meet Thursday that the United Nations (news - web sites) must play the central role in rebuilding postwar Iraq (news - web sites).

EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin said Tuesday that senior diplomats from the 15-nation union would stress that it was their "primary concern to have the U.N. center stage."
"We believe the U.N. system has a unique capacity and experience in post-conflict states," she said, adding, "The U.N. should play a central role during and after the crisis."
Powell is scheduled to hold talks Thursday in Brussels with foreign ministers from EU and NATO (news - web sites) nations as well as his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov.
The talks among NATO allies are expected to focus on repairing alliance unity following the rift over Iraq and on a possible NATO role in helping stabilize the country after the war.
***For security reasons, Powell plans to meet an EU delegation led by Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou at NATO HEADQUARTERS.***
Officials said the decision not to let Powell visit the EU head office, only 3 kilometers (2 miles) away, was not connected to the recent discovery of listening devices in meeting rooms at the EU complex.
***"We expect (Powell) to discuss the war in Iraq and ... WHATEVER will happen postwar,"*** Udwin said.
But she said the EU was not ready to discuss postwar specifics because the war itself still appeared to be in its early days.
"This meeting comes too early for us to discuss detailed plans," she said. "It is important that we carry on discussions during the conflict."
Given the souring of transatlantic relations in recent months, she said it was "encouraging" that Powell was coming to Brussels.
In Athens, Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas said he wished Powell had come to the EU in the runup to the war.
"Nevertheless, if he wants to talk on these issues, it is never too late," Protopapas said.
The Iraq war has divided the EU nations and 13 mostly East European nations seeking admission.
Germany and France lead a no-war camp. Britain, Spain, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal and several East European candidate nations have sided with the United States.
Greece, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, has been unable to bridge the rift. Instead it has focused discussions on matters of agreement, such as Iraq's eventual reconstruction and the likely U.N. role in that work.
***French President Jacques Chirac emerged from an EU summit March 21 warning that neither Britain nor the United States should lead any postwar administration in Iraq. He said allowing this would legitimize the invasion of Iraq.***

The leaders of the EU delegation meeting Powell will be Papandreou, EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten, and Javier Solana, the EU's foreign and security affairs chief.
Patten said recently that unless the United Nations gets a lead role in rebuilding Iraq, it will be difficult for EU governments to provide significant reconstruction funding.
Before Powell left for his trip to Turkey and Brussels, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said he wanted to ***discuss the possible European contribution to a postwar peacekeeping force in Iraq.***
"We have allies with different views. We will be talking about that," Boucher said.*** "The issue at this moment for us and the Europeans on the diplomatic track is to look at what is going on in Iraq, not in terms of the past, but in terms of what we can do to give the Iraqis a better future." ***

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