Bush says differences with EU now past

WASHINGTON, June 20 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush and EU leaders, putting aside differences over Iraq, said Washington and Europe are co-operating on reconstructing that country.

Speaking after a U.S.-EU summit at the White House the president said though "there may have been past differences," the United States and the European Union are working together "to achieve democracy" in Iraq.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who holds the rotating EU presidency, said while there had been "differences and diversions" over Iraq, the fact that a joint U.S.-EU international conference on Iraq reconstruction is scheduled to start in Brussels Wednesday shows both sides "are working in the same direction."

The president hosted Juncker, Juan Manuel Barroso, head of the EU's Brussels-based executive, and Javier Solana, who directs European foreign policy, at a summit lunch.

He said the Middle East, terrorism and the EU's efforts to persuade Iran to halt its nuclear missile program had also been discussed.

Bush did not refer directly to the EU's internal disagreements over its budget, or the rejection by France and the Netherlands of the new EU constitution in recent referendums. But Juncker said the EU leaders had explained "in detail the real meaning" of the two negative results.