Italian President Calls for Efforts to Avert War on iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Italian President Calls for Efforts to Avert War on iraq

Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi on Monday urged the international community to do everything possible to avert a war on Iraq.

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Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi on Monday urged the international community to do everything possible to avert a war on Iraq.

Speaking during an official visit to Sicily, Ciampi said, "We must all work and hope for a way out of this terrible problem."

Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini attacked Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission, for expressingsupport for anti-war efforts being made by Germany and France.

In an interview published Monday by Corriere della Sera, Prodi referred to press reports of a Franco-German peace plan that surfaced over the weekend. According to the reports, Paris and Berlin want to boost the number of UN weapons inspectors working in Iraq and back them with UN peacekeeping troops.

Prodi also said Monday that he supported a call from Greece foran emergency EU summit next week to discuss the Iraqi crisis and the European division on the issue.

But Frattini said that he had "difficulty in understanding" the"institutional legitimacy which has led Prodi to express his opinion on a proposal concerning international politics."

Italy's center-right government led by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has joined Britain in taking a pro-US stance on Iraq, despite opposition from the center-left and strong anti-war sentiment among the Italian public.

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