Bush to meet EU chiefs in Washington

Senior European Union officials will travel to Washington on Thursday to brief US President George W Bush on their plans to fight…

Senior European Union officials will travel to Washington on Thursday to brief US President George W Bush on their plans to fight global terrorism, the European Commission said this evening.

Mr Romano Prodi

In a statement, it said the president of the European Commission, Mr Romano Prodi and the Belgian Prime Minister Mr Guy Verhofstadt would brief Mr Bush on decisions taken by EU leaders at an emergency summit in Brussels.

At last Friday’s summit, the EU heads of state and government pledged to help the United States fight back against suspected extremists, their sponsors and financiers following the September 11th attacks.

The EU also adopted an action plan to fight terrorism on its own soil. This plan will include an EU-wide search and arrest warrant and a common list of suspected terrorist organisations.

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Mr Verhofstadt, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, and Mr Prodi will also meet US Vice-President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, the Commission statement said.

Another EU delegation led by Belgian Foreign Minister Mr Louis Michel is currently touring six mostly Muslim countries including Pakistan and Iran in a bid to drum up support for the global anti-terror drive.