Brussels, 09/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - According to sources close to the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, the President of the EU Council George Papandreou, together with Javier Solana will be visiting seven countries in the Middle East at the beginning of February. The same sources indicate that the Greek Presidency wants to encourage moderate Arab regimes to play a mediating role with the USA to avoid a war in Iraq and develop a clearer idea of theses countries' positions if a war takes place. The visit will take place a few days after the first complete UN inspectors' report is presented on 27 January. The Greek Minister of Foreign affairs will be visiting Syria, Jordan, the Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Mr Papandreou will be meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders (see below).
In an interview in Le Monde on Thursday, the Greek Prime Minister, Costas Simitis believed that it "really is possible" to come up with a common E15 position on Iraq, notably because four Member States - France, United Kingdom, Germany and Spain - are currently members of the Security Council. The President of the European Council has "the impression that there is a desire to find a common line, notably in favour of a second Security Council resolution".