6 months after 9/11, cracks showing in EU-US ties

PARIS: Six months after September 11, Europe is still backing the US-led war on terror but splits are beginning to show between Washington and its closest allies.

The apparent US determination to topple Saddam Hussein from power in Baghdad, and the latest row over steel tariffs, have strained relations between the coalition partners.

Even strongly pro-US nations like Germany, Italy and Spain have sounded more like Russia or France, two countries which have had their ups and downs with Washington.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi stressed that he intended to continue "political dialogue" with Iraq.

His Spanish counterpart Jose Maria Aznar, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, claimed an attack against "rogue states", a term used by Washington to describe Iraq and other hostile regimes, was "not the same thing as the fight against terrorism."

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine has blasted what he called an overly "simplistic" US foreign policy and voiced concern over any possible US attack on its old foe in Baghdad.