Here is a “fly-on-the-wall” account of the EU meeting this past weekend. Mssr. Chirac apparently had a less-than-pleasant time.

At Mr Annan’s hawkish stance, Mr Chirac stood up and with Gallic passion began a defence of the French position.

Flinging his arms up and down, he declared that war was a terrible thing and that thousands of innocent people would lose their lives in a second Gulf war. “It is a question of life and death,” he declared.

Then came the most dramatic point of the evening. Silvio Berlusconi, the diminutive Italian premier, eyeballed Mr Chirac and insisted: “I’m just as concerned about life and death as you are.”

Here’s hoping that the account is accurate, particularly as regards Kofi Annan’s stand.