EU's Top Leader Opposes Looming War on Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, February 22, 2003

EU's Top Leader Opposes Looming War on Iraq

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European Commission President Romano Prodi spoke against a looming war on Iraq, and urged the international community to explore every possible alternative to war, the Italian media reported on Friday.

"We would all be worse off after a war," the former Italian prime minister told the Naples daily, Il Mattino. Besides the "disasters, mourning and pain that it would cause," there would be practical consequences, in particular for Europe, he added.

"All our efforts must be focused on obtaining through peaceful means the same results that could be obtained by starting a conflict. There are many instruments available to us and we must use them all to the best of our ability," Prodi said.

"We are close to the war zone and would be affected by the conflict. We are already host to so many immigrants from Arab countries," he said.

The 15-member European Union has shown deep divisions over the Iraqi crisis. France and Germany are leading Europe's anti-war camp, while Italy joined with Britain and Spain in taking a broadly pro-United States stance.

Italy's center-right government, led by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has allowed US troops to use its air space and air bases for technical stop-overs and refueling, a decision which wasdecried by the opposition.

Last Saturday, more than a million people demonstrated in Rome against the possible US-led war on Iraq, the largest anti-war rally yet held in the capital.

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