Proinsias De Rossa, Labour Party MEP for Dublin, has called on the Government to convene the EU Foreign Ministers to agree a proposal to the UN Security Council seeking a long-term cease-fire in Iraq.
Mr De Rossa also called for a plan to replace American control of Iraq with UN control as an interim measure.
Referring to the US-proposed "puppet" Interim Government, Mr De Rossa said it was clear the various political and religious persuasions would not "tolerate" such an entity.
Mr De Rossa said it was "now up to the European Union to use its influence to force the United States to accede to a clear timetable for withdrawal and an orderly handover of power to an elected Iraqi government under UN supervision and in the context of democratic elections."
He called on the Irish government, "as holders of the EU presidency", to to press the US to abandon what he called "its neo-colonial occupation."
