British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac studiously avoided each other at Thursday night's EU summit in Brussels as the outbreak of war in Iraq underscored the continent's deep and bitter divisions over the crisis.
Blair looked haggard but said nothing as he arrived at the heavily-guarded council of ministers building, after the French president had condemned the start of fighting and the absence of a UN mandate.
The British and French leaders and the EU's 13 other heads of government were dining before yesterday's economic summit, inevitably dominated by the conflict and the worst internal rift the union has seen.
The prime minister and president, who have clashed in recent days but not met for more than a month, were seated diagonally opposite each other. Chirac also looked grim, but did not speak to reporters.
British officials said there were no plans for the two to hold private discussions and denied an attempt to arrange a meeting had been rebuffed.
At the start of pre-dinner talks, Blair chatted with Spain's Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, US President George W. Bush's other loyal European ally.
Chirac huddled with German Chancellor Gerhard Schoeder, fellow leader of the anti-war camp, but kept his distance from Blair. UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw shook the French president's hand and won a curt nod in response.
Calling the start of hostilities a "grim moment for the world," European Commission President Romano Prodi, urged the EU members to close ranks -- though they are split even over the question of post-war humanitarian aid.
"Today all we can do is unite in the hope that the war will be brief and will not cause too many casualties and that there will be as little turmoil as possible as a result," he said.
Blair was planning a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a fellow supporter of the US. But there was no fence-mending session either with Chirac or Schoeder.
Bitter Anglo-French exchanges continued on Thursday with Straw accusing Paris of never intending to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1441. But he predicted relations would be patched up.
Downing Street said Blair acknowledged the differences between London and Paris but wanted to focus on aid to Iraq once Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had been overthrown.
"No one on either side is expecting the other to change their mind in respect of where they stand," the prime minister's spokesman said. "We are not here to refight the battles of the past few weeks.
"We want to have a good discussion which results in practical outcomes so that the EU can engage on humanitarian issues."
Chris Patten, the EU's external relations commissioner, told the European parliament he hoped it would be possible to deliver aid quickly, though he has warned that the absence of a UN mandate might make that difficult.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, the summit host, urged leaders to provide humanitarian and reconstruction aid "so that Europe can act at a later stage."
Patten also called for attempts to heal the rift between Washington and Europe over Iraq.
"This has been a very bad passage for trans-Atlantic relations," he said.
RSS