London Observer (Sunday): Blair gets the cold shoulder at Berlin summit [View All]

[Jack Rabbit]

From the London Observer (Sunday supplement of the Guardian Unlimited)
Dated Sunday Spetember 21

Blair gets the cold shoulder at Berlin summit
By Luke Harding in Berlin

Tony Blair's efforts to seek agreement with France and Germany over Iraq suffered an embarrassing setback yesterday when French President Jacques Chirac bluntly insisted that power should be handed back to Iraqis in a 'few months'.
Speaking after a meeting with Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Blair sought to set aside his diplomatic feud with Paris and Berlin - and said all three leaders believed the United Nations should play a 'key role' in rebuilding Iraq. 'Whatever differences there have been over Iraq, it is important that France and Britain and Germany should work together,' Blair said.
But his conciliatory remarks did little to hide the continuing split between Britain and the United States and France - and, to a lesser extent, Germany - over the timetable for returning Iraq to domestic rule. Chirac yesterday repeated his demand that the UN be given a 'significant and operational role' in running the country. The transfer of sovereignty should be 'immediate', he added. While Schröder was less outspoken, it was clear that Germany supports the French position.
Schröder, who hosted yesterday's summit, greeted Blair with a polite, effusive handshake. By contrast, he gave the French President an enormous bear hug, a sign of the two countries' continuing political warmth.
Chirac's unambiguous comments make it less rather than more likely that agreement can be reached next week at the UN on a new resolution drafted by Washington. All three leaders are flying to New York for discussions, with the German Chancellor meeting George Bush for the first time in more than a year.

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