Chirac snubs Blair at EU summit

French President Jacques Chirac attempted to deliver a diplomatic snub to Tony Blair over dinner at a key European Union summit, it emerged today.

Mr Chirac shunned any attempt at conversation with the Prime Minister as weeks of frustration over the Iraq crisis came to a head. There were even reports that M Chirac had refused to shake the Prime Minister's hand.

Behind the scenes the French took the fight directly to Britain. M Chirac's delegation even attempted to veto any official

condemnation of Iraq's failure to disarm from the communiqué ©ssued at the end of the summit.

The French also objected to a move to express the EU's "disappointment" that UN resolution 1441, ordering Saddam

Hussein to scrap his weapons of mass destruction, had not been complied with.

The disputes were the last thing Mr Blair needed as he tried to focus his attention on the Gulf. His aides said he was in constant touch with senior officials in Downing Street and at the Ministry of Defence, as well as speaking to other world leaders, though there were no reports of overnight conversations with President Bush.

The Prime Minister was preparing for a press conference
later at which he was to be quizzed on the latest information from the Gulf, and his reaction to the deaths of about eight British servicemen in a helicopter crash in Kuwait.

It was clear that the clash over Iraq will take years to repair once the conflict is over. Other European leaders admitted the EU was suffering one of its bitterest splits over Iraq. "We should be ashamed of ourselves that we have not risen to the occasion," Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said.

"There is a correct tone of voice, but the atmosphere is tense," said Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said European leaders could have avoided damaging disunity if they had been more realistic about US intentions.