Refusing to end his attacks on the US and Britain, French President Jacques Chirac threatened yesterday to veto any UN resolution to let them run Iraq after the war.
Chirac, furious at having failed to avert the war to topple Saddam Hussein, said allowing Washington and London to oversee the creation of a new government in Iraq would reward them for starting a war that flouted world opinion.
France would veto any attempt in the UN to "legitimize the military intervention [and] ... give the belligerents the powers to administer Iraq," Chirac told reporters after a EU summit.
"That would justify the war after the event," he said.
In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell brushed off the French threat, saying "We're going to put in place a better life for the people of Iraq, a representative form of government."
The French leader's blunt comments indicated the major rift in the West could get worse. France and Germany waged a sustained diplomatic campaign on the UN Security Council to try to avert military action, creating a crisis in trans-Atlantic and EU relations.
The war badly split the EU as Spain, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands and Portugal backed Britain's pro-American stance, while the other nations lined up with France and Germany.
Chirac's warning came after British Prime Minister Tony Blair earlier urged the other EU nations to support future moves at the UN to forge a post-Saddam "civil authority in Iraq."
Blair was not explicit on what he foresees, but has said he wanted UN support for rebuilding Iraq's government.
Britain was dismayed by Chirac's threat, diplomats said. While there was room for disagreement, France and Germany should also support allied nations at a critical time, they said.
The leaders met at a previously scheduled summit of the 15 EU nations to discuss economic issues, but Iraq dominated the talks, which were often tense and angry, diplomats said.
"It was impossible to abridge" the disagreements on Iraq, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said.
Agreement was reached on the urgent need to ready humanitarian aid and support the creation of a representative government in Iraq after the war.
There was disagreement, however, over the EU helping fund the reconstruction of Iraq. Blair said the EU must help repair the ravages of Saddam's rule, but France and Germany argued Iraq should use its vast oil reserves to foot the bill.
There were efforts to repair some of the diplomatic damage. Blair and Chirac shook hands at the summit and met on the margins of the summit to discuss ways to improve tattered relations.
"Mr. Blair and I shared that same spirit," Chirac said.
Britain has repeatedly attacked France in recent weeks, accusing Paris of all but ensuring war by derailing efforts to present a united front to force Iraq to disarm.
France, which insisted Iraq could be disarmed peacefully, wants a united Europe with a common foreign and security policy to counter the US on the world stage. But many EU nations are reluctant to cut their close ties with Washington.
The US suffered another diplomatic blow yesterday with France, Germany and the Netherlands refusing Washington's request to close Iraqi embassies and expel diplomats.
Switzerland said it was considering a US call to freeze assets of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The US has approached 60 countries, requesting the expulsion of diplomats it says are engaged in espionage. The US State Department has said the Iraqi envoys are a threat to US personnel overseas.
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