Bush seeking EU resolve on Iran, will hear grumbles

VIENNA, June 21 (Reuters) US President George W Bush, hoping to capitalise on improving ties with Europe, will urge European leaders today not to ease up on the possible use of sanctions against Iran But his key allies complained before an EU-US summit that he remains too heavy-handed in his focus on security and said global trade talks would die without further concessions from Washington.

Bush has yet to regain the confidence of many Europeans after the 2003 invasion of Iraq split the continent.

From the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba to strict US visa requirements, Europeans are frustrated that the United States is still showing too little consideration towards its trans-Atlantic partners.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso kept up the calls on Bush to take a less hardline approach to security.

''We risk losing our souls,'' he told the International Herald Tribune newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday, hours before the summit in Vienna.

''We are committed to the fight against terrorism. But if we surpress civil rights and civil liberties because we are fighting terrorists, that would be a victory for the terrorists,'' he said, referring also to reports of collusion by EU governments in alleged CIA abductions of terror suspects.

In a gesture towards the EU's concerns, the United States appeared ready to sign a summit declaration with a reference to respect for human rights in the fight against terrorism.

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