Spain: The US National Security Adviser, Ms Condoleeza Rice, has accused Paris and Berlin of "taking NATO hostage" during the Iraqi crisis, in an interview published yesterday by the Spanish newspaper, El Pais.
"We continue to be allies with Paris and Berlin," she was quoted as saying in an interview with journalists from Spain, which was one of Washington's staunchest backers in the war on Iraq.
But in comments published in Spanish, she added: "It was worrisome that Germany and France tried to avoid NATO reinforcing security in Turkey . . . no one must take NATO hostage."
The comment referred to France and Germany's refusal to back NATO support for Turkey, Iraq's neighbour, in the build-up to the war which the two capitals felt was inappropriate while diplomacy still had a chance.
The issue triggered transatlantic tension and a crisis within the military alliance.
Ms Rice also raised the idea of a possible role for Spain in post-war Iraq after the initial reconstruction phase under US command.
"The situation will evolve, security conditions could change and it could be useful that a determined country, like Spain or Australia, or an organisation like NATO, take on responsibility," she said.
The US adviser also said she was "totally convinced" that Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction - Washington's motive for launching the war - would be found sooner or later and suggested some may have been hidden outside the country.
Naming Syria, she said Damascus had given assurances that no weapons crossed its border with Iraq, "but if this Syrian promise proves false, it will create a serious situation and the international community will be obliged to act".
Meanwhile, the French Foreign Minister, Mr Dominique de Villepin, said that US-led forces in Iraq must swiftly replace a temporary post-war administration there with an authority backed by the United Nations.
The US has appointed former State Department counter-terrorism chief Mr Paul Bremer as the top civil administrator for Iraq while it seeks to assemble a government with an "Iraqi face", made up of locals and returned exiles.
"The key issue is the establishment of a legitimate Iraqi authority," Mr de Villepin told parliament during a question session.
"The coalition is putting in place a provisional solution. A process that cannot be questioned must swiftly follow, one which must involve the whole international community, that is to say the UN." - (AFP/Reuters)