Brussels summit: Iraq's interim Prime Minister, Mr Iyad Allawi, has appealed to European countries that backed the US-led invasion of his country not to withdraw their troops until Iraqi forces are ready to take up the security burden.
Hungary and the Netherlands have signalled that they will withdraw their forces from Iraq next year and Poland is under pressure to do likewise.
Speaking in Brussels, where he met EU leaders at the end of their two-day summit, Mr Allawi said he respected each country's decision but warned that any reduction in coalition forces would make the security situation worse.
"The decrease of international forces would encourage terrorism," he said.
Mr Allawi said the prospect of a peaceful solution to the standoff with insurgent forces in the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, was receding. He said the people of Fallujah had asked his government to "liberate them from the terrorists", and said the insurgents should now surrender.
"We hope they will come to their senses. Otherwise they will have to face the consequences," he said.
The EU leaders approved an extra €16.5 million in aid for Iraq to fund elections due to take place by the end of next January. Mr Allawi said the date for the elections had not yet been finalised but promised they would be held on time.
Mr Allawi's visit to Brussels was overshadowed by remarks he made the previous day, when he said that European countries that had acted as "spectators" during the Iraq war should now come to his country's aid.
The French President, Mr Jacques Chirac, denied that his decision to leave the summit before Mr Allawi arrived for lunch was a snub. Mr Chirac said he had to leave early to fly to the United Arab Emirates for the funeral of that country's leader, who died this week.
Mr Chirac's explanation was undermined, however, by reports that he had insisted on deleting a passage in the EU leaders' communiqué that explicitly welcomed Mr Allawi to Brussels.
For his part, Mr Allawi sought to play down the significance of his "spectators" jibe and paid tribute to European countries for harbouring Iraqi dissidents during the tyranny of Saddam Hussein.
"Europe stood with us and Europe is standing with us now... There is a difference of views among European countries but we want to create a constructive dialogue to create stability and peace in the region and that is what we intend to do," he said.
EU leaders expressed concern about the situation in Darfur, Sudan, and said they wanted to provide assistance and expertise to the expanded African Union peace mission there.
Speaking after the meeting, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Ahern, announced funding from the Government of €500,000 for this.
"The African Union is performing a vital role in Darfur which the EU and international community, in line with recent appeals from UN Secretary-General Annan and his special representative in the region, Mr Jan Pronk, must continue to support. The funding announced today will allow for better monitoring of the fragile ceasefire and will hopefully save lives," he said.
President Chirac yesterday cautioned that Turkey might never "adopt all the values of Europe", which is required for it to join the EU. Where this to be the case at the end of entry negotiations, the bloc might have to find an alternative way to tie it to Europe, he said.
Turkey's Foreign Minister, Mr Abdullah Gul, played down the remarks, saying they reflected domestic French politics.
"President Chirac is very wise, he's handled it very wisely, a great statesman. I think his statement should not be misread," he said. - (Reuters)