EU calls for more efforts to stabilize Iraq

European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana Wednesday called upon both the Iraqi people and the international community to make efforts to stabilize Iraq ahead of the scheduled elections in the war-battered country.

Solana, who was on a visit Portugal, warned that there could bemore violence in Iraq with the approaching of the elections scheduled for early 2005.

"The situation in Iraq is difficult and security remains a fundamental preoccupation," Solana said after meeting Portuguese Foreign Minister Antonio Monteiro in Lisbon.

"As we approach the possibility of initiating the sovereignty of the Iraqi people, those who do not want this to happen will actwith increasing violence," he said.

More than 120 people were killed and dozens injured in suicide bombings and clashes on Wednesday as Iraq's interim government ended its first month in office amid deepening violence and hostage crisis.

The Iraqi people and the world community should strengthen cooperation to pave the way for next year's elections, Solana noted.

Solana and Monteiro also discussed the situation in the Middle East.

Solana hoped that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would keep his promise to grant wider powers to Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.

Arafat agreed on Wednesday to hand over Qurei some security competence in an attempt to defuse an internal political crisis.

"We have always advocated that the prime minister (Ahmed Qurei)be given basic powers so he can carry out his job, namely with respect to security and economic matters," Solana said.

Source: Xinhua