BRUSSELS, March 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - As the Iraqi crisis rather than economic questions will dominate the European Union summit this week, the European Union condemned Wednesday, March 19, the discovery of illicit phone taps at the EU's Brussels headquarters, on the eve of a summit clouded by huge rifts over Iraq.

Senior EU officials, however, denied a report that investigators had concluded that the United States was behind the phone-taps, saying a probe has not yet determined who planted them, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

"I deny that we have identified whoever was responsible, whether it was the Americans, the Russians, the Chinese or whoever. We have launched an investigation," said a council official.

"We are still investigating but it seems it was pretty professional," he said.

"The investigation has only just started and we know nothing yet about who has benefited from this crime," said Dominique-Georges Marro, head of the council's press service.

Marro said the bugging systems were found during regular inspections by security services. "Attempts had previously been made but this is the first time that we have found a system already in place," he said.

"The first thing I can do is to condemn this act," said Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.

"We will be waiting for the results," he said, adding that: "To all those who feel that it necessary to tap our phones, we say that that Europe is a very transparent organization... they shouldn't go to such lengths to try to find out information."

"Americans"

But according to the French daily Le Figaro, Belgian police have identified "Americans" as those responsible. But Belgian police declined any further comment.

A spokesman for the U.S. mission to the EU declined to comment on the report. "We are aware of the press reports. We have received no communication from the EU about this investigation," he said.

A British delegation spokesman also confirmed that London's offices were among "about half a dozen" countries targeted.

"We are obviously very concerned about this. We've offered whatever help we can," said the spokesman.

He echoed EU officials’ denial of a newspaper report that U.S. agents were behind the intercepts.

"It's incorrect to make that particular allegation," he said.

E.U. security services found the taps on lines between the switchboard of the Council building, where meetings of EU ministers and leaders are held, and delegation rooms.

France Hits Out At Blair’s Remarks

In another development, France lashed out at Britain for criticizing its anti-war stance on Iraq, marking a fresh downturn in the already tense relations on the eve of the EU summit.

Paris said it was shocked and saddened by remarks made by British government ministers about France.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin called his British counterpart Jack Straw early in the day to voice his displeasure about the comments made during recent parliamentary debates.

"We well understand the domestic pressure being put on the British government. But these remarks are not worthy of a friendly nation and a European partner," deputy ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.

Paris further accused the British ministers, without giving specific names, of statements that "bear little resemblance to reality and do not fool anyone."

The Liberation newspaper stood by Chirac, accusing Washington and London of whipping up anti-French sentiment and risking even deeper rifts in transatlantic relations.

"By making Paris the scapegoat of their failures, and by placing themselves outside the confines of international law, they're hoping to dodge embarrassing questions on the eve of a war that they're going to lead alone against (nearly) everyone," the paper said in a commentary.

The backlash could set the stage for a fiery confrontation between French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the two-day EU summit, due to begin Thursday, March 20.

The two leaders have not met face-to-face since a bilateral summit last month in the northern French resort town of Le Touquet, where they failed to reach a consensus about how to handle the Iraq crisis.

Facing large-scale domestic opposition for his staunch support of U.S. President George W. Bush, Blair passionately defended his position during a marathon debate in the House of Commons, which eventually backed his plans to go to war.

Blair said he was "sad" to have seen Chirac, who has insisted that continued UN weapons inspections are the best way to disarm Iraq, so determined to veto a fresh UN resolution on Iraq.

"Our fault has not been impatience. The truth is our patience should have been exhausted weeks and months and even years ago," said the prime minister.

He said France's intransigence on the issue of a new UN resolution had “paralyzed” the United Nations and doomed diplomacy as a means of defusing the crisis over Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

"Weakness in the face of the threat of a tyrant is the surest way not to peace, but to conflict," Blair charged.