Euro-US summit fails to heal rifts

Divisions over Iran, Nato's future and EU plans to lift an arms embargo against China have cast a shadow over carefully stage-managed efforts to heal the transatlantic rift.

At the end of a two-day visit to Brussels by George W. Bush, the EU and the US pledged to work more closely together but failed to resolve a number of key disagreements.

Speaking after talks with the 25 EU heads of government, Mr Bush sent mixed messages on American thinking on how to deal with Iran's attempts to acquire nuclear weapons. "This notion that the US is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. Having said that, all options are on the table," he said.

The visit was billed as a symbolic gesture from Washington, underlining the willingness of the US president to take on board Europe's views.

Despite snow and freezing temperatures, about 1000 protesters demonstrated against Bush, prompting police to deploy water canon.

The President stated his opposition to European plans to end a 15-year-old arms embargo against Beijing, hinting the US might curb technology exchanges with the EU.

French President Jacques Chirac laid out the position backed by all big EU states including Britain, saying that the embargo could no longer be justified. Chirac pointed out that Australia lifted its measures a decade ago and Canada had never introduced a ban.

Personal relations between Bush and Chirac appear to have been revived over dinner at the US embassy on Monday night - the menu including "French fries".

Bush said he might invite the French President to his ranch in Texas, joking he needed a good "cowboy", a comment accepted by Chirac as a compliment.

Chirac said he believed that the US is now willing to listen to European concerns but added "the future will tell whether I am wrong".

The French President backed calls by the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, to a change to the structure of dialogue between Europe and the US. Schroder last week suggested Nato was outdated.

But Chirac said: "Things evolve and one must adapt. I support Chancellor Schroder's proposition."

That struck a different tone from Tony Blair, who joined Bush in hailing the alliance as the "cornerstone" of the transatlantic relationship.

However, there was pre-scripted progress on the key issue that has divided the EU and the US over the past three years: Iraq. The EU offered to stage a conference to rally international support for Iraq together with the United States.

The meeting would "provide a forum to encourage international support for Iraq," Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, the summit host, said.

In addition, Nato issued a declaration stressing that all 26 of its allies are now participating in the effort to rebuild Iraq. That statement glossed over the fact that France has insisted its training of gendarmes in Qatar is a bilateral effort and not part of the overall Nato structure.

- INDEPENDENT