|
The meeting of European Union (EU) leaders in Brussels agreed Thursday that Iraq's territorial integrity, sovereignty and political stability must be kept with the country's full disarmament once the US-led war is over.
In a statement issued after their first day meeting of a regular summit on Thursday and Friday, the leaders from EU's 15 nations said the United Nations "must continue to play a central role during and after the current crisis."
They also pledged that the 15-nation bloc is committed to humanitarian aid for Iraqi people in accordance with established principles.
The leaders endorsed the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's proposal that the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people can continue to be met through the "oil for food" program.
Early in the day, US-led forces launched strikes against Iraq, ending long efforts made by the international community and caused deeper rifts in the West and overshadowing the EU summit, which was originally set to discuss European economic reforms.
(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2003)
|
