EU: European leaders began their summit last night seeking unity on Iraq, but their divisions were glaring, with Britain demanding a "signal of strength" and France resisting force.
Foreign ministers, who met before the summit to search for common ground, were united that Iraq must disarm - but on little else.
With Washington pushing its allies for quick action, differences remained over how much more time to give to weapons inspectors, whether to threaten war as a last resort, and whether to demand UN approval before any military action.
French President Jacques Chirac said he would oppose any effort to draft a new UN resolution to authorise war against Iraq at this time. "There is no need for a second resolution today, which France would have no choice but to oppose," Mr Chirac said as he arrived for the summit.
British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair, President Bush's closest ally, said that tough language was the best way to avoid war.
"The most important thing at the moment is to send a signal of strength, not weakness, because that is the language Saddam will understand," he said. "That is also our best chance of avoiding war."
Spanish Foreign Minister Ms Ana Palacio reaffirmed her support for a hard line on Iraq. "It is only by the credible threat of force that we could send the message to Saddam," she said.
Acknowledging the rift, Greek officials were not even drafting a proposed statement ahead of the summit, preferring instead to wait to see what emerged from the discussions.
The disarray threatened not only US and British efforts to win backing for a possible war, but the EU's nascent attempts to forge a common stand on the world stage to counterbalance what many Europeans see as US dominance.
"We all know that this is about the question of Iraq, but it's also about the question of Europe," German Foreign Minister Mr Joschka Fischer said.
There was speculation that last week's Franco-German-Russian declaration on Iraq - which called for strengthened UN weapons inspections in Iraq, but also did not exclude the use of military force - could form the basis of an EU compromise.
Mr Fischer, whose government has ruled out taking part in any Iraq war, said he would not stand in the way of a compromise, even if the language included allowing force as a last resort. But he felt talks should focus instead on making inspections work better.
In Washington, national security adviser Ms Condoleezza Rice said the Bush administration may ask the UN to take up a new resolution authorising force, but that the action was already sanctioned by the previous resolution.
British Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw said a UN resolution was not strictly necessary before using force against Iraq. However, "in terms of political desirability we prefer a second resolution".
French Foreign Minister Mr Dominique de Villepin reiterated the French, German and Belgian position that the UN inspectors should be given more time. European parliamentary leaders, who met UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan before the summit, said Mr Annan had stressed that he did not want the inspections to go on too long. Images of millions of people protesting against military action last weekend around the world appeared to strengthen the anti-war cause.