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EU for UN central role in Iraq work

AFP, Athens
The European Union called yesterday for a "central role" for the United Nations in rebuilding Iraq as the 15-nation bloc sought to put deep differences over the campaign against Saddam Hussein behind it.
In a statement agreed at a meeting in Athens, the EU also said it "reaffirms its commitment to play a significant role in the political and economic reconstruction of the country".
"The UN must play a central role, including in the process leading towards self-government for the Iraqi people, utilising its unique capacity and experience in post-conflict nation-building," said the statement.
The EU was bitterly split by the US-British war that toppled Saddam. The emerging consensus on Iraq among its leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, suggests the bloc may be coming together again.
The EU, wielding the "soft power" of humanitarian relief, said it was planning an air bridge to fly wounded Iraqi children to hospitals in Europe.
But the extent to which the United Nations, or the EU itself, will be allowed to get involved in longer-term reconstruction in Iraq depends on a profoundly sceptical United States.
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US President George W. Bush on Wednesday said the United Nations should lift punishing sanctions imposed on Saddam's regime after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, so that Iraq can trade its oil on world markets without international control.
French President Jacques Chirac, who was fiercely opposed to the war in Iraq, said it was up to the United Nations to decide how the embargo should be lifted.
"The lifting of sanctions is an aim which we have supported for a long time. Now it is naturally for the UN to define the modalities for lifting the sanctions," he said in Athens after talks with UN chief Kofi Annan.
Annan told a conference of 40 European nations in the Greek capital that the UN must be given adequate resources to fulfil a role in Iraq. "Any role entrusted to the United Nations, beyond the purely humanitarian, (must be) consistent with the (UN) Charter, and matched by the necessary resources," he said.
"The Iraqi people... have suffered terribly, and they deserve a better future. Their most immediate needs now are for public order and safety, and for humanitarian relief," Annan added.
Chirac, who had what aides called friendly talks on Wednesday with Blair, also said he wanted to proceed "pragmatically" now the war is all but over.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said late Wednesday after meeting his counterparts from Bulgaria, France, Germany, Spain and Russia -- all UN Security Council members -- that "a new atmosphere" was in the air.
"We want to work collaboratively in the EU, with the UN playing a vital role, but it has to be in partnership with the coalition and the Iraqi people," he said.
In its statement, the EU said: "The people of Iraq now have the chance to shape a new future for their country and to rejoin the international community."
The statement added that "Iraq's neighbours should support stability in
Iraq and the region", with Syria now in US sights for allegedly allowing weapons and senior officials from Iraq across its border. Iran meanwhile was part of Bush's original "axis of evil" alongside Iraq and North Korea.
The EU added that US and British troops have "the responsibility to ensure a secure environment, including for the provision of humanitarian assistance and the protection of the cultural heritage and museums".
Spain, which backed the United States and Britain against Saddam, forecast several different UN resolutions to address the multiple facets of rebuilding a country.
Foreign Minister Ana Palacio said there was "a clear willingness to define the UN's role in different fields".