ROME, Jan. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Italian Foreign Minister Franco
Frattini said Monday that he and his counterparts from five other
key European Union nations have reached a common position on Iraq.
The six countries -- Britain, Germany, France, Spain,
Italy andGreece -- had "come to agreement" on the
following four points, Frattini said.
1) A strong message must be sent to Iraq, reiterating that the
objective is its total and unconditional disarmament;
2) All UN resolutions must be fully complied with to ensure
peaceful disarmament of Iraq;
3) Iraq must provide "full and
active" cooperation in applying the resolutions;
4) Weapons inspectors should be given more time to complete
their task, should they ask for it.
Frattini was speaking after a meeting in Brussels between the
four European members of the UN Security Council -- Britain,
France, Germany and Spain -- along with Greece, which currently
holds the EU presidency, and Italy, which will take over this
summer.
Until now, Britain and Spain have been basically supportive of
Washington, while France and Germany have been strongly against
armed intervention.
Italy's position is still that war is not inevitable but that
Iraq must show it is collaborating with UN arms inspectors. It
argues that whatever happens, the United Nations should be
centralto key decisions.
Last week, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said his
government would seek parliamentary approval for participation in
military intervention while campaigning to rally a common
Europeanstance.
He denied that Italy had changed its stance on Iraq, stressing
that it will wait for a UN resolution on intervention. Enditem
