Top EU diplomat says US blundered with timing of Iraq contract decision

[Barrett808]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The European Union's top diplomat said that the United States had blundered when it announced that major US allies in Europe would be excluded from Iraq (news - web sites) reconstruction projects ahead of former secretary of state James Baker's debt relief mission.

At the same time, however, Javier Solana said Baker's mission had been "constructive and positive" to date and had helped ease transatlantic tensions over the Iraq war.

"I think that, if I bore the responsibility -- which I don't have -- I would try to coordinate better the statements about contracts and the visit of Jim Baker," Solana said.

"But this is the past," he added quickly.

"Things have gone well. Don't worry about that," Solana told reporters after meeting Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage at the State Department.

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