Tony Blair and Gerhard Schröder last night staked out a role for themselves as mediators between the US and France in the postwar world.
The prime minister and the German chancellor were the two European leaders whose views on Iraq were furthest apart at the start of the war. Last night, they were keen to stress that they seeking to find common ground, particularly on the role the UN should play in Iraq’s reconstruction.
Schröder proposed that the UN’s role should be hammered out in talks between members of the security council and the countries that combined to bring down Saddam Hussein. President George Bush has invited his coalition partners to talks on rebuilding Iraq, but not those states that objected to the war, which include Germany, France and Russia — all currently members of the security council.
Schröder was speaking after a meeting with Blair in Hanover before today’s EU summit in Athens, the first since the US-led invasion opened up profound divisions between member states.
There is deep concern in London and Berlin over the dangers of an unbridgeable transatlantic rift as a result of the war. British and German officials have privately expressed alarm at the risks inherent in the continued defiance of Washington by Jacques Chirac of France.
Schröder took a hard line last week, saying that Germany would not take part in Iraq’s reconstruction unless it was carried out under the auspices of the UN. After his talks with Blair, however, he appeared to soften his tone.
”We think it is necessary now that the United Nations decide the right type of framework to ensure, above all, that humanitarian assistance for the people of Iraq does reach the people,” he said.
While Blair tried to re-establish a European bridgehead Jack Straw was distancing Britain fromthe US’s increasingly critical stance towards Syria. The foreign secretary arrived in Saudi Arabia, the last stop in a four-nation tour of Gulf states who provided sometimes secret military support for the war.
He was asked by reporters whether London, like Washington, regarded Syria as a rogue state. He said: ”We use different descriptions. Syria has an opportunity to prove that it is not in that category.”
While Britain appears to take a softer line, Straw underlined Britain’s determination for a change in approach when he called on Damascus to recognise the ”changed reality”.
”Syria has got to understand the seriousness of the situation,” Straw said. ”There are some serious questions for Syria to deal with.”
Although the Pentagon team appears keen to pursue a stronger line against Syria, British officials say they believe it does not represent the view of the entire administration.
Straw dismissed suggestions there was a list of countries to be targeted for ”regime change” after the war in Iraq. ”There isn’t a list and Syria isn’t on it,” he said.
Even his description of Assad was markedly more sympathetic. Straw described the Syrian leadership as ”intelligent people who have the future interests and welfare of their country at heart”.
Straw said the extent of a UN role in the political process in Iraq was not dependent on Britain and the US, but on France, China and Russia.
”It depends on the degree to which others in the security council, particularly the permanent five, show a similarly constructive approach and accept there is a new reality in Iraq,” he said. – Guardian Unlimited Â