BRUSSELS (AFP) - European leaders were urged to forget their past divisions over Iraq as they met the country's interim leader on the second day of a summit in Brussels.
But clouds remained, with French President Jacques Chirac excusing himself from a lunch with Iyad Allawi amid criticism of comments by the Iraqi leader urging "spectator" countries to engage more in his war-scarred country.
Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency, denied that Chirac was boycotting the lunch because of bad relations with Baghdad.
"That has other reasons," he said when asked about Chirac's planned early departure from the EU summit, missing the Allawi lunch to fly to the United Arab Emirates to express condolences for the death on Tuesday of its founding leader, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan.
"But I think that what we should do is look towards the future, forget about the past," Bot told reporters on arrival for the concluding day of the EU summit in Brussels.
The EU leaders were expected to agree to the immediate disbursement of 30 million euros to support the election process before Iraqi polls planned for January.
Allawi himself sought to smoothe ruffled European feathers by appealing for a fresh start in relations to help rebuild Iraq.
On his way to Brussels, Allawi caused anger by calling on "spectator" countries such as France and Germany to get off the sidelines and engage more in Iraq.
But speaking here Friday after pre-summit talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Allawi said his administration wants "to forge a good and positive alliance" with Europe.
"History is history, past is past. We need to start afresh and open a new chapter," he told reporters.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, whose country opposed the Iraq war along with France and Germany, renewed criticism of Allawi's comments as he arrived Friday.
"I don't at all like the expression 'spectator'. I don't understand it," he told reporters.
Blair also called for European leaders to turn over a new leaf, in particular by facing the "new reality" of George W. Bush's re-election as US president.
"We've got to move on, there's a new reality, so let's work with that reality," he said after breakfast talks with Allawi in a Brussels hotel.
"My sense just in talking to European leaders here overnight is that people do understand this is the reality, and it's important that we work with the Americans and of course with the Iraqi government to bring that stability to Iraq," Blair added.
The first day of the Brussels summit saw a breakthrough with the incoming head of the European Commission announcing a new line-up for his EU executive after his first-choice team met fierce criticism from EU lawmakers.
Jose Manuel Barroso won approval for the new-look team, which notably replaces Italy's controversial nominee, from the EU leaders and said he hoped that he would now get the European Parliament's backing in mid-November.
But before the commission breakthrough was announced, the summit was enveloped in gloom by the grave condition of veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at a hospital outside Paris.
Amid conflicting reports about his condition, a French medical official said Arafat was "brain dead" and surviving only on artificial life support.
Bot said the EU leaders had expressed their "solidarity with the Palestinian people".
Closer to home, the second day was also to see discussion of a new immigration plan for the bloc, which expanded from 15 to 25 states this year and is set to take in several more countries over the coming years.
11/05/2004 - 11:33 GMT - AFP